Cheong Wa Dae
Encyclopedia
The Cheongwadae or Blue House (commonly syllabicated
Syllabification
Syllabification is the separation of a word into syllables, whether spoken or written.It is also used to describe the process of something like a consonant turning into a syllable, but this is not discussed here...

 Cheong Wa Dae) is the executive office and official residence of the South Korean head of state, the President of the Republic of Korea. The Korean name literally translates to "pavilion of blue tiles." The Blue House is in fact a complex of buildings, built largely in the traditional Korean architectural
Korean architecture
Korean architecture refers to the built environment of Korea from c. 30,000 BC to the present.-Introduction:From a technical point of view, buildings are structured vertically and horizontally...

 style with some modern elements.

Built upon the site of the royal garden of Joseon Dynasty
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

, the Blue House now consists of the Main Office Hall (본관; 本館), the Presidential Residence, the State Reception House (영빈관; 迎賓館), the Chunchugwan (춘추관; 春秋館) Press Hall, and the Secretariat Buildings. The entire complex covers approximately 250,000 square metres or 62 acres.

History

The location of Cheongwadae was the site of a royal villa in what was then Hanyang
Seoul
Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

, the southern capital of the Goryeo
Goryeo
The Goryeo Dynasty or Koryŏ was a Korean dynasty established in 918 by Emperor Taejo. Korea gets its name from this kingdom which came to be pronounced Korea. It united the Later Three Kingdoms in 936 and ruled most of the Korean peninsula until it was removed by the Joseon dynasty in 1392...

 dynasty (918–1392). It was built by King Sukjong
Sukjong of Goryeo
Sukjong of Goryeo was the 15th ruler of the Goryeo dynasty of Korea. He was the younger brother of Sunjong. He married Myeongui, the daughter of Yu Hong....

 (r. 1095–1105) in 1104. Goryeo's principal capital was at Kaesŏng
Kaesong
Kaesŏng is a city in North Hwanghae Province, southern North Korea , a former Directly Governed City, and the capital of Korea during the Koryo Dynasty. The city is near Kaesŏng Industrial Region and it contains the remains of the Manwoldae palace. It was formally named Songdo while it was the...

, and it also maintained a western capital at Pyongyang
Pyongyang
Pyongyang is the capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, commonly known as North Korea, and the largest city in the country. Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River and, according to preliminary results from the 2008 population census, has a population of 3,255,388. The city was...

 and an eastern capital at Gyeongju
Gyeongju
Gyeongju is a coastal city in the far southeastern corner of North Gyeongsang province in South Korea. It is the second largest city by area in the province after Andong, covering with a population of 269,343 people according to the 2008 census. Gyeongju is southeast of Seoul, and east of the...

.

After the Joseon dynasty
Joseon Dynasty
Joseon , was a Korean state founded by Taejo Yi Seong-gye that lasted for approximately five centuries. It was founded in the aftermath of the overthrow of the Goryeo at what is today the city of Kaesong. Early on, Korea was retitled and the capital was relocated to modern-day Seoul...

 (1392–1910) moved its capital to Hanyang, Gyeongbok Palace was built in 1395, the fourth year of the reign of King Taejo
Taejo of Joseon
Taejo of Joseon , born Yi Seong-gye, whose changed name is Yi Dan, was the founder and the first king of the Joseon Dynasty of Korea, and the main figure in overthrowing the Goryeo Dynasty...

 (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
Civil service
The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

 examinations and military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...

 training.

Following Imperial Japan's annexation
Korea under Japanese rule
Korea was under Japanese rule as part of Japan's 35-year imperialist expansion . Japanese rule ended in 1945 shortly after the Japanese defeat in World War II....

 of Korean Empire in 1910, the Governor-General of Korea
Governor-General of Korea
The post of Japanese Governor-General of Korea served as the chief administrator of the Japanese government in Korea while it was held as the Japanese colony of Chōsen from 1910 to 1945...

 used the Gyeongbokgung
Gyeongbokgung
Gyeongbokgung, also known as Gyeongbokgung Palace or Gyeongbok Palace, is a royal palace located in northern Seoul, South Korea. First constructed in 1394 and reconstructed in 1867, it was the main and largest palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty...

 grounds for the government-general building
Japanese General Government Building, Seoul
The Japanese Government-General Building was the chief administrative building in Keijo during the Japanese colonial rule of Korea and the seat of the Governor-General of Korea. It was a neo-classical building designed by German architect Georg De Lalande, and was completed in 1926...

. In 1939, Japan built an official residence/office for the governor-general on the site of Cheongwadae. It was later dismantled during Kim Young-sam
Kim Young-sam
Kim Young-sam was a South Korean politician and democratic activist. From 1961, he spent 30 years as South Korea's leader of the opposition, and one of Park Chung-hee's most powerful rivals....

's presidency in 1993.

With the establishment of the Republic of Korea
History of South Korea
The history of South Korea formally begins with the establishment of South Korea on 15 August 1948, although Syngman Rhee had declared the establishment in Seoul on 13 August....

 in 1948, President Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee
Syngman Rhee or Yi Seungman was the first president of South Korea. His presidency, from August 1948 to April 1960, remains controversial, affected by Cold War tensions on the Korean peninsula and elsewhere. Rhee was regarded as an anti-Communist and a strongman, and he led South Korea through the...

 called the building "Gyeongmudae" (경무대, 景武臺), which was the name of one of the few old buildings there. He used it as his office and residence. President Yun Bo-seon
Yun Bo-seon
Yun Bo-seon was a Korean former independence activist and politician, and the President of South Korea from 1960 to 1962. Studying in the UK, he graduated from the University of Edinburgh and gained an M.A., After returning home in 1932...

 changed the name to "Cheongwadae" after he was inaugurated in 1960.

In 1968, North Korean infiltrators
Unit 124
Unit 124 was a North Korean Special Operation Forces unit, part of the Reconnaissance Bureau of the Korean People's Army , under the operational control of the Liaison Department of the Worker's Party of Korea....

 nearly reached the building in a bid to assassinate President Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee was a Republic of Korea Army general and the leader of South Korea from 1961 to 1979. He seized power in a military coup and ruled until his assassination in 1979. He has been credited with the industrialization of the Republic of Korea through export-led growth...

 during the Blue House Raid
Blue House Raid
The Blue House Raid was an unsuccessful attempt by North Korean commandos to assassinate the South Korean President Park Chung-hee at the Blue House on January 21, 1968.-Preparations:...

. In the ensuing melee, 28 North Koreans, 68 South Koreans and three Americans were killed.

Presidents Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee
Park Chung-hee was a Republic of Korea Army general and the leader of South Korea from 1961 to 1979. He seized power in a military coup and ruled until his assassination in 1979. He has been credited with the industrialization of the Republic of Korea through export-led growth...

, Choi Kyu-ha and Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan
Chun Doo-hwan was a ROK Army general and the President of South Korea from 1980 to 1988. Chun was sentenced to death in 1996 for his heavy-handed response to the Gwangju Democratization Movement, but later pardoned by President Kim Young-sam with the advice of then President-elect Kim Dae-jung,...

 used it both as their office and official residence. While President Roh Tae-woo
Roh Tae-woo
Roh Tae-woo , is a former ROK Army general and politician. He was the 13th president of South Korea .Roh befriended Chun Doo-hwan while in high school in Daegu. In his younger life, Roh was a keen rugby union player....

 was in office, a new office building, official residence, and press center, called Chunchugwan, were built. The main office building was opened in April 1991.

Setting

Geomancers
Geomancy
Geomancy is a method of divination that interprets markings on the ground or the patterns formed by tossed handfuls of soil, rocks, or sand...

 have long considered the area in which Cheongwadae 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.

To the north of hugiwawa is the mountain Bukhansan, flanked by two mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...

s, Naksan, symbolizing the Azure Dragon, on the left and Inwangsan, symbolizing the White Tiger
White tiger
The white tiger is a recessive mutant of the Bengal tiger, which was reported in the wild from time to time in Assam, Bengal, Bihar and especially from the former State of Rewa.-Color comparison:...

, on the right. To the south is Namsan
Namsan (Seoul)
Namsan is a 262-meter peak in the Jung-gu district of south central Seoul, South Korea. Although known as Mount Mongmyeok, or 목멱산, in the past, it is now commonly referred to as Namsan. It offers some hiking, recreation and views of downtown Seoul's skyline...

, the protective mountain of the capital. In front flow the Cheonggyecheon
Cheonggyecheon
Cheonggyecheon is an 8.4 km long, modern public recreation space in downtown Seoul, South Korea. The massive urban renewal project is on the site of a stream that flowed before the rapid post-war economic development required it to be covered by transportation infrastructure...

 stream and Han River
Han River (Korea)
The Han River is a major river in South Korea and the fourth longest river on the Korean peninsula after the Amnok, Duman, and Nakdong rivers. It is formed by the confluence of the Namhan River , which originates in Mount Daedeok, and the Bukhan River , which originates on the slopes of Mount...

.


See also

  • Korean architecture
    Korean architecture
    Korean architecture refers to the built environment of Korea from c. 30,000 BC to the present.-Introduction:From a technical point of view, buildings are structured vertically and horizontally...

  • History of South Korea
    History of South Korea
    The history of South Korea formally begins with the establishment of South Korea on 15 August 1948, although Syngman Rhee had declared the establishment in Seoul on 13 August....

  • History of Korea
    History of Korea
    The Korean Peninsula was inhabited from the Lower Paleolithic about 400,000-500,000 years ago. Archeological evidence indicates that the presence of modern humans in northeast Asia dates to 39,000 years ago. The earliest known Korean pottery dates to around 8000 BC, and the Neolithic period began...

  • List of Korea-related topics
  • National Assembly Building
    National Assembly Building
    The National Assembly Building is the building that serves as the location of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, the legislative branch of the South Korean national government. It is located at Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul....

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