Seoul’s Secret Heart Reopens: Walking the Blue House Road and Wandering Seochon Village

[mediK / HEALTH IN NEWS] For the first time in more than half a century, the road that sweeps in front of South Korea’s presidential Blue House has been thrown open to the public, and Seoul suddenly feels a little less guarded, a little more alive.

The street—officially known as Cheong Wa Dae Front Road (청와대 앞길)—had been off-limits to ordinary citizens since 1968, when security concerns after a North Korean commando raid turned the area into a no-go zone. Now, after a full reopening in 2022, anyone can stroll the gentle curve that begins at the north gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace, passes the elegant main building of the Blue House itself, and climbs toward the wooded slopes of Inwangsan and Bukaksan mountains. What was once a symbol of seclusion has become one of the city’s most evocative new public spaces.

On one side runs the ancient stone wall of the palace; on the other, a shaded promenade lined with benches beneath old trees. Even in the heart of a megacity, the noise fades here. Come in early summer when the new leaves glow emerald, or in autumn when the maples blaze scarlet, and the path feels almost secret. The best times to visit are early morning, when the light is soft and the crowds thin, or at dusk, when the setting sun bathes the blue-gray tiles of the Blue House in warm amber.

Ten minutes’ walk downhill from the palace’s west wall lies Seochon Village (서촌마을), a cluster of narrow alleys that many Seoulites quietly call the most soulful neighborhood in the capital.

Tucked between Gyeongbokgung and the mountains, Seochon was home centuries ago to middle-class scholars and artists during the Joseon era. The poet Yun Dong-ju lived here briefly; the painter Jeong Seon, known as Gyeomjae, found inspiration in its vistas. Today the low tiled roofs and wooden doors of hanok houses still stand, but many have been lovingly converted into independent bookshops, tiny galleries, ceramics studios, and cafés where the barista might sketch your portrait on the foam of your latte.

A short detour brings you to Tongin Market (통인시장), a 100-year-old traditional market that still hums with the morning chatter of grandmothers bargaining over dried anchovies and sesame leaves. The market’s standout experience is its “lunchbox café,” where visitors buy a replica 1950s aluminum tray and a handful of old brass “coins” (yeopjeon), then wander from stall to stall filling the compartments with whatever catches the eye—fried tofu, stir-fried glass noodles, sweet-and-sour lotus root. It’s a playful, delicious history lesson.

The most rewarding way to explore Seochon is to start at Exit 2 of Gyeongbokgung Station, wander along the food street known as Sejong Village (세종마을 음식문화거리), and let the alleys pull you deeper. Past and present overlap at every corner: a 200-year-old hanok next to a speakeasy-style bar serving craft makgeolli, a poet’s former home now a vinyl-record café. Seoul rarely feels this gentle.

Oh Ha Eun medi·K TEAM press@themedik.kr

Copyright © 2020 mediK. All rights reserved.