Blue House

Blue House
청와대 靑瓦臺 Cheong Wa Dae
The reception center of the Blue House in 2010
Location in Seoul
Former names	Gyeong Mu Dae (1948–1960)
Alternative names	Cheong Wa Dae
General information
Architectural style	Traditional Korean
Address	1 Cheongwadae-ro, Jongno-gu
Town or city	Seoul
Country	South Korea
Coordinates	37.5867°N 126.9763°E / 37.5867; 126.9763
Groundbreaking	22 March 1937 (1937-03-22)
Topped-out	20 September 1939 (1939-09-20)
Opened	1948 (1948) (as presidential residence) 10 May 2022 (2022-05-10) (as public park)
Renovated	22 July 1989 (1989-07-22) – 4 September 1991 (1991-09-04)
Closed	9 May 2022 (2022-05-09) (as presidential residence)
Korean name
Hanja	靑瓦臺
Revised Romanization	Cheong Wa Dae
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'ŏng'wadae

Cheong Wa Dae (Korean: 청와대; Hanja: 靑瓦臺; lit. 'Cyan-tile Pavilion'), also known as the Blue House, is a public park that formerly served as the executive office and official residence of the president of South Korea from 1948 to 2022. It is located in the Jongno district of the South Korean capital Seoul.

Cheong Wa Dae is in fact a complex of multiple buildings, built largely in the traditional Korean architectural style with some modern architectural elements and facilities. Cheong Wa Dae now consists of the Main Office Hall Bon-gwan (Korean: 본관; Hanja: 本館; lit. "Main House"), the Presidential Residence, the State Reception House Yeongbin-gwan (Korean: 영빈관; Hanja: 迎賓館; lit. "Welcome-Guest House"), the Chunchu-gwan (Korean: 춘추관; Hanja: 春秋館; lit. "Spring-Autumn House") Press Hall, and the Secretariat Buildings. The entire complex covers approximately 250,000 square metres or 62 acres.

Cheong Wa Dae was built upon the site of the royal garden of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910). While the Blue House served as an executive office, it was one of the most protected official residences in Asia. Upon the inauguration of President Yoon Suk-yeol in May 2022, Cheong Wa Dae was relieved of its duties as the official residence and executive office of the president and was fully converted to a public park.

History

The location of Cheong Wa Dae was the site of a royal villa in what was then Hanyang, the southern capital of the Goryeo dynasty (918–1392). It was built by King Sukjong (r. 1095–1105) in 1104. Goryeo's principal capital was at Kaesong, and it also maintained a western capital at Pyongyang and an eastern capital at Gyeongju.

After the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897) moved its capital to Hanyang, Gyeongbokgung was built in 1395, the fourth year of the reign of King Taejo (r. 1392–1398) as the main palace, and the royal villa lot became the back garden of the palace. It was used as the site for civil service examinations and military training.

Following Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910, the Japanese governor of Korea used the Gyeongbokgung grounds for the Government-General Building. In July 1939, Japan built an official residence/office for the governor-general on the site of Cheong Wa Dae.

With the establishments of the Republic of Korea in 1948, President Syngman Rhee called the building "Gyeong Mu Dae" (Korean: 경무대; Hanja: 景武臺, lit. 'capital pavilion'), which was the name of one of the few old buildings for former official residence there. He used it as his office and residence. President Yun Bo-seon changed the name to "Cheong Wa Dae" after he was inaugurated in 1960. The name was reportedly changed as it had ostensibly become associated with authoritarianism and dictatorship. An alternate name "Hwaryeongdae" was proposed alongside "Cheong Wa Dae" as a possible renaming candidate, but the latter was ultimately chosen.

In January 1968, North Korean infiltrators nearly reached the building in a bid to assassinate President Park Chung-hee during the Blue House raid. In the ensuing melee, 28 North Koreans, 26 South Koreans and four Americans were killed.

On 26 October 1979 Park was assasinated by the Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA) Director in a safehouse in the Blue House grounds.

Presidents Park, Choi Kyu-ha, and Chun Doo-hwan used the building both as their office and official residence. While President Roh Tae-woo was in office, a new office building, official residence and press center, called Chunchu-gwan, were built. The main office building was opened in April 1991. In 1993 during Kim Young-sam's presidency, the building built by Japan for the then-official residence was dismantled.

On 20 March 2022, South Korea's President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol announced that he would take office on May 10 in the Ministry of National Defense building in the Yongsan District of Seoul, and open the Blue House to the public as a park. In May 2022, in accordance with order issued by Yoon Suk-yeol after he took office, the building officially converted into a public park and opened to public visitation for the first time in its 74 year history, with a maximum of 39,000 visitors allowed on a daily basis.

Setting

Gardens on the grounds of Cheong Wa Dae

Geomancers have long considered the area in which Cheong Wa Dae is located as an auspicious location. This view was backed up by an inscription on a stone wall that reads: "The Most Blessed Place on Earth", found behind the official presidential residence during the construction of a new building in 1990. Others contend that it is cursed, due to the misfortunes that has befallen on its previous occupants.

To the north is the mountain Bukhansan, flanked by two mountains, Naksan, symbolizing the Azure Dragon, on the left and Inwangsan, symbolizing the White Tiger, on the right. To the south is Namsan, the protective mountain of the capital. In front flow the Cheonggyecheon stream and Han River.

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  One of the buildings at the Cheongwadae Reception Center

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  Another building at the Reception Center

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  Near the entrance to the Blue House grounds

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  Monument on road in front of the Blue House, administrative building in background

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  View over the Gyeongbokgung and the Blue House at the foot of Bugaksan

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  Aerial view of the Blue House

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  Fountain in front of the Blue House

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  A bridge connecting the garden area to the Reception Center

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  View from the balcony of the visitors center

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  President George W. Bush at the Blue House in February 2002

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  Presidents Barack Obama and Lee Myung-bak inside the Blue House in November 2010

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  Presidents Donald Trump and Moon Jae-in inside the Blue House in June 2019

In popular culture

• 2009, Iris (KBS TV drama)
• 2010, Big Thing (SBS TV drama)
• 2011, City Hunter (SBS TV drama)
• 2013, King of Ambition (SBS TV drama)
• 2015, Assembly (KBS TV drama)
• 2019, Vagabond (SBS TV drama)
• 2019, Designated Survivor: 60 Days (tvN TV drama)

See also

• Korean architecture
• History of South Korea
• History of Korea
• Presidential Residence of South Korea
• Korea National Assembly Proceeding Hall
• Residences of North Korean leaders - the northern equivalent in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea

External links

• Office of the President Archived 14 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
• Blue House entry in Visit Korea Archived 17 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine