| Songseokjeong pavilion stands at the top of the slope at the back of the Seongnagwon Garden in northern Seoul, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
By Lee Suh-yoon
Seongnagwon, a quiet garden and former royal villa in Seongbuk-dong, northern Seoul, opened its gates to the public, Tuesday.
The opening is temporary ― until June 11 ― and available only to those who book a paid tour with Korea Furniture Museum.
Seongnagwon means "enjoy nature outside of the castle." Emperor Gojong's fifth son, Yi Gang (1877-1955), used it as a royal villa during the late Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910). The garden is now privately owned by descendants of a high-ranking Joseon official who used the garden as his summer villa before Yi. They also run the nearby furniture museum.
The garden, a lush pocket of green inside a residential enclave for the rich at the foothills of Mount Bukhan, was mostly closed off from the public until now. In its seclusion, it survived the rapid redevelopment of the surrounding city, remaining one of the few places in Seoul where one can see traditional Korean landscaping.
"Seongnagwon is distinct from Chinese-style gardens that exaggerate nature inside high walls, or Japanese-style gardens that simplify and scale nature down out of respect. It just shows nature as it is," Park Joong-sun, a board member at the museum, told reporters during a press tour on Tuesday. "It's a good example of how manmade components do not surpass nature in traditional Korean gardens."
| Yeongbyeokji pond inside Seongnagwon Garden / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
| Visitors wander around Seongnagwon Garden, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
A small stream runs through the garden, pooling at two ponds on its way down the slope to the front entrance. A small hill dotted with 200-year-old pine trees blocks the view into the inner gardens as one enters from the front, a traditional landscape technique that allows each scenic spot to unfold one by one as the visitor progresses down a winding path.
With funding and support from the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA), the owners plan to restore Seongnagwon to better fit the scholarly definition of a traditional Korean garden, getting rid of more intrusive structures and cement flooring in places.
"We will restore and improve facilities at Seongnagwon in cooperation with the CHA. We are also consulting with the owners to extend the public opening period and give more citizens the opportunity to visit," Jung Young-joon, a city official, said.
Guided tours take place every Monday, Tuesday and Saturday, with English tours starting at 2:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. The tour plus admission costs 10,000 won ($8.75). Reservations and inquiries can be made at info.kofum@gmail.com.