Nooks and crannies of Korea's Blue House tell a history of their own

Korean Heritage

Published: 30 Jun. 2022, 16:02

Nooks and crannies of Korea's Blue House tell a history of their own

Sejong Hall inside the Blue House's Main Office Building has a painting of "Ilwolobongdo" by artist Song Kyu Tae. Ilwolobongdo is the famous depiction of the sun, moon and five peaks, which symbolize power and eternity. It was placed behind the thrones of Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) rulers. [MOON SO-YOUNG]

The Blue House’s Main Office Building opened its doors to the public on May 26. A long line of visitors buzzing to see the building that housed Korea's past presidents forms outside the building every day. On weekends, the line to get inside can be hours long.

Visitors entering into the Main Office Building can see the red-carpeted staircase and a grand chandelier. The painting at the back of the stairs is Kim Sik's "Geumsugangsan (The Beautiful Land of Korea)" (1991). [MOON SO-YOUNG]

The high ceiling and the red-carpeted staircase typical of European palaces and government offices take center stage upon entering the building. But the large columns next to the stairs that support the ceiling are often seen in hanok, or Korean traditional buildings. The traditional, checkered ceiling design is also often found in Korea’s royal palaces and temples. Antique chandeliers are installed in different corners of the building for lighting. The main chandelier above the staircase is shaped like gongpo, which is a structure found in hanok designed to disperse the weight of the roof to the columns. Dangling from the gongpo are dozens of European-style crystal prisms, which give it a unique look that looks quite Oriental, yet also very western. A smaller crystal lighting piece on one of the walls has a gold frame that resembles the famous gold crown from the Unified Silla period (668-935).

Inside Sejong Hall, in which cabinet meetings were held, another chandelier lights up the room. One wall is taken up by a large painting: “Ilwolobongdo” by artist Song Kyu Tae. Ilwolobongdo famously depicts the sun, moon and five peaks, which symbolize power and eternity, and was historically placed behind the thrones of Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) rulers.

Different chandeliers are installed in Inwang Hall, which was used for conferences and smaller banquets, the president’s office, the reception room and the room used by the first lady — enough to turn a Blue House tour into a chandelier tour in and of itself.

A traditional Korean curtain decoration called yuso hangs in front of a traditional curtain, bangjang, on the windows of the Main Office Building. [MOON SO-YOUNG]

The frame design for the windows also has its roots in hanok. The windows are decorated with traditional curtains called bangjang and have yuso, a traditional decoration used especially for bangjang and known for its beautiful knots, attached to them.

The Blue House obviously tried very hard to keep Korean elements in an otherwise very western-style building, and while some interior touches turned out quite amazing, others seem a ridiculous — such as the use of fanciful gold frames to decorate electrical outlets on the walls.

Electrical outlets on the walls of the Main Office Building are decorated with gold frames. [MOON SO-YOUNG]

The high ceilings, many chandeliers and various motifs from Joseon’s royal palaces seem to come together to harmoniously complete the look for a very authoritarian space — a space that would have been used by leaders of a country whose feelings of yearning for European empires of the past and national pride are intertwined.

Regarding such a “cultural hybrid” paradox inside the Blue House’s Main Office Building, design critic Choi Beom explains it’s “eclecticism architecture,” referring to designs that incorporate traditional elements, styles and decorative aesthetics with ornaments that originated from other cultures.

“Such architectural style is often seen in Korea’s public buildings of the 20th century, like the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts” located in central Seoul, he said.

The Main Office Building was built in 1991 under the Roh Tae-woo administration after demolishing the original building built by the Japanese. It was designed by Junglim Architecture.

Gesturing to the “Ilwolobongdo” painting, Choi said it’s ironic that that specific painting was selected to be in that space.

"In the Republic of Korea, people have sovereignty, and the role and the position of a president is totally different from that of the kings of the Joseon Dynasty," Choi said. "But by situating that painting, which used to be positioned as a backdrop for the king, behind the seat of the president, it can be seen as an attempt to regard the president as a king. The design of the Blue House itself is heavily influenced by the image of the Joseon Dynasty. I think it reflects the consciousness of all Koreans rather than the ideas of a few decision makers or designers. It’s like the body is living in the Republic of Korea but the consciousness still remains in Joseon."

It’s been just 30 years since the Blue House’s Main Office Building was constructed, but Choi says there are still many visual images that seem to refer to the president as king.

“Like the word ‘imagology,’ visuals dominate the consciousness. That's why it’s sometimes necessary to make a subjective severance from conventional images and spaces. Respecting old traditions and confusing them with the present are two different things. In that sense, I see the relocation of the president’s office to Yongsan as a positive thing in that it has finally moved away from something very Joseon.”

In the long term, the building showcases the process of visually building nationality, Choi says. “In other words, finding our own style.”

He added that it’s important to preserve the site and do thorough research on it, since it is an important part of Korea’s modern history.

It’s not just the authoritarian atmosphere that visitors can witness inside the Main Office Building. There are also hints of restriction, so as not to hit a nerve of the public. The interior decorations inside the buildings of the Blue House are quite restrained compared to the European palaces and public buildings it tries so hard to take after. It used to house about 600 to 700 paintings, but only a handful were by renowned artists like Kim Tschang-yeul, Lee Dae-won and Jeon Hyuk-lim.

Jung Joon-mo, head of the Korea Art Authentication and Appraisal Research Center, who took part in the extensive research of the art collection of the Blue House in 1998 during the Kim Dae-jung administration, said, “About 10 years ago, I said the quality of the interior and art works of the Blue House resemble rich houses of the Gangnam District in the 1970s and '80s. The problem is, it still does.”

Artist Jeon Hyuk-lim's "Tongyeong Harbor" is in the Inwang Room of the Main Office Building. It was personally ordered by late President Roh Moo-hyun in 2006. A chandelier adorns the ceiling in this room as well. [MOON SO-YOUNG]

Most of the art that was hung inside the Blue House has now been put away in storage. Artist Kim Sik’s large painting "Geumsugangsan (The Beautiful Land of Korea)" was commissioned when the Main Office Building was being constructed in 1991. The installation art work that stacks up 83 televisions titled “Video Sanjo” by Nam June Paik (1932-2006) is still in Chunchugwan Press Center. It’s known to be the most expensive art piece owned by the Blue House. Ironically, it wasn’t turned on most of the time after being installed in 1990, for fear of the public criticizing the Blue House for wasting electricity.

Hundreds of people walk into the Blue House on the day of its opening, May 10. [NEWS1]

According to the Cultural Heritage Foundation, which currently manages the tour together with the Secretary Office to the President, visitors to the Blue House surpassed 1 million on May 22 — 44 days after the opening and nearing the total number of visitors to Gyeongbok Palace last year.

However, as some claim online that “too many visitors to the Blue House is damaging the property that should be designated as a cultural property,” more people are beginning to argue that opening the Blue House to the public as soon as President Yoon Suk-yeol took office on May 10 was a “hasty decision.”

A group of 12 Cultural Properties Committee members who work together with the Cultural Heritage Administration take a picture after their first official tour of the Blue House on June 17. [YONHAP]

A group of 12 members of the Cultural Properties Committee, composed by professionals in different areas, took a look around the Blue House for the first time officially on June 17.

“Witnessing so many visitors, we can see just how much the Korean public longed to see the place that was once so highly restricted,” said Lee Jae-un, committee member of the Historical Site Division and professor emeritus at Jeonju University for Korean History. “However, leaving it as it is now and having thousands of visitors just touring the site every day, it may become nothing more or less than a tourist attraction.”

The committee members said it’s a shame that they were invited by the Cultural Heritage Administration to see the Blue House more than a month after the opening. After recieving so many suggestions on how to utilize the property, the members said it’s “important to conduct thorough research of the site before we talk about utilization.”

“Some suggest that we turn it into a museum, an art center or a concert hall, but it’s impossible to adopt all that,” said Park Kyung-lip, committee member for Royal Palaces and Tombs Division and a professor emeritus at Kangwon National University’s Architectural History. “It is necessary to pay attention not only to the buildings but also to the value of the site.”

The large pine tree in the Blue House's Nokjiwon is an important natural heritage, according to Chun Young-woo, a forester. Many events were held around the tree on the Blue House grounds. This file photo shows children gathered around the tree on Children's Day, May 5, in 2007. [YONHAP]

Chun Young-woo, head of the committee and a forester and professor emeritus at Kookmin University, said, “The Blue House is a cultural heritage that contains Korea’s 1,000-year history from the Goryeo Dynasty [918-1392] and a natural heritage as it has more than 50,000 trees of 180 species.”

“In the long run, the Blue House should restore the history and the sense of its place in that it was in the rear garden of Gyeongbok Palace and the office of Korea’s presidents. It would have been nice if the Blue House had been opened to the public after we were invited first to take a look, do research and discuss how best to present it to the public,” Lee said.

BY MOON SO-YOUNG, YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]