In summer, if you cross the cloud bridge over the lotus-scented pond at Deokjin Park in Jeonju and pass through the Sajumun gate (四柱門), you will see Yeonhwajeong (蓮花亭) in the shape of the Korean letter "ㄱ." With a total floor area of 393㎡, Yeonhwajeong is a single-story hanok building featuring a hipped-and-gabled roof that offers different views from every angle. Yeonhwajeong is divided into Yeonhwadang, a library, and Yeonhwaru, a cultural space, rest area, and observatory. Throughout Yeonhwajeong, visited on the 15th, one could sense an intense effort to figure out how to apply the wisdom of ancestors to the modern day.
Yeonhwaru sits about 45 centimeters—roughly three steps—higher than Yeonhwadang, the library, offering a completely different view. Some columns were driven into the water using the modern micropile method, which can make visitors feel like scholars of old enjoying elegance aboard a boat. At the same time, a passage was opened between Yeonhwaru and the library to introduce a traditional cooling system, allowing air to flow by using the temperature difference between the south-facing front yard with ample sunlight and the back yard where cool air rises from the water. Located in the middle of Deokjin Park, once a popular amusement spot, Yeonhwajeong has become a major attraction for Jeonju residents as well as numerous tourists since it opened in 2022.
Architect Lim Chae-yeop, who designed Yeonhwajeong, said, "This result could never have been achieved by my efforts alone," adding, "I completed the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's specialized education course in hanok design, and when I ran into roadblocks, I was able to consult the nation's top experts based on the network I built at that time." Lim, drawn to the appeal of hanok, completed a master's course in Korean architectural history at Jeonbuk National University and a doctoral course at Myongji University.
Currently, university architecture departments mainly offer courses centered on modern Western architecture. Hanok architecture is mostly limited to one semester as an elective Korean architectural history class. In response, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been training specialists such as architects and construction technicians since 2011. It has produced about 1,580 specialists, who have achieved results such as winning hanok design competitions, securing construction contracts, and exporting overseas.
◇ "Hanok campus" at Jeonbuk National University leads specialized education
Leading this kind of hanok education is Jeonbuk National University, a regional base national university in North Jeolla Province where Yeonhwajeong is located. The Jeonbuk National University Hanok Architecture Project Team, led by Director General Nam Hae-gyeong, has been the only one continuously selected for the hanok design course since the first year of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) project, and for the past three years it has shown strength by being selected for all construction courses as well. Pursuing the "most Korean campus," Jeonbuk National University has 12 hanok buildings, including the main gate, classrooms, a cafe, a blood donation center, an international convention center, and a law school. It also operates the only hanok architecture department within a four-year university in Korea.
On the 16th, hands-on training was in full swing at Jeonbuk National University's Gochang campus. In the outdoor training yard equipped with a hoist (overhead crane), trainees were building a full-scale hanok. In the indoor timber workshop, about a dozen students were busy finishing wood under a professor's guidance. Although it was a club activity during winter break after the semester ended, the workshop was buzzing with energy. Before practice, they say they study each element of hanok by looking at waste materials from cultural heritage repair sites in the campus museum.
Jin Bin, 33, a third-year student in the hanok architecture department, who was practicing wangji joinery with finished timber, said, "I used to be an office worker doing work unrelated to architecture and didn't have much interest in hanok or cultural heritage," but added, "My grandfather's house is an old residence in the hanok style, and I wanted to repair it myself, which led me to start studying." Jin added, "I want to develop aspects often cited as weaknesses of hanok, such as insulation, into forms suitable for modern life and try working in interior design specialized for hanok."
Beyond education, Jeonbuk National University is also exporting hanok overseas. Its first export began in 2020, when it received a request from a national university in Algeria to build a hanok. Since then, it has completed or is carrying out more than 20 hanok export projects in over 10 countries, including Vietnam, the Philippines, the United States, Canada, and Australia. Clients vary, including Korean organizations, convention corporations, and state institutions.
Hanok exports are easy to understand when compared to modular dwellings. All materials are processed and dried domestically, shipped to the destination, and then assembled by a dispatched workforce. While timelines and expenses vary by condition, it generally takes six months, and construction expenses alone are about 15 million won per 3.3㎡. To this, costs such as material transportation and labor must be added. Because the material is wood, extra drying is done for humid countries like Indonesia and Thailand, and in places with many termites, such as Australia, fumigation (steaming with hot smoke) is carried out, among other considerations.
Professor Nam Hae-gyeong said, "With the Korean Wave, demand is growing among overseas consumers attracted to hanok appearing in content," adding, "In fact, there is almost no revenue left, but we are putting our efforts into it because we believe it is more important to help promote Korea's excellent residential culture."
◇ Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT) to expand hanok attractions, industry, and talent development
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to draw up, around February, this year's call for operating institutions for the specialized training courses in hanok architectural design and hanok construction management being conducted at Jeonbuk National University. The program will train about 100 people, with a total of 300 million won in state funds to be provided. It is also exploring the advancement of education courses in hanok architectural design, construction, and construction management; awards for outstanding talent development institutions; and the resumption of hanok camps for youth and teachers.
In addition, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to work on modernizing hanok. It will update hanok statistics to reflect reality and consider ways to expand the hanok registration system currently operated by some local governments such as North Gyeongsang, Gwangju, and Seoul. It also plans to support hanok construction; research modular hanok that apply traditional joinery methods; and reduce construction costs and develop new projects by improving the standardization level of materials.
In particular, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is pushing research to rationally modernize the Hanok Architecture Standards. It plans to establish hanok construction standards that meet legal requirements for fire resistance and earthquake resistance, accessibility, and green architecture, and to reorganize the current Hanok Architecture Standards to reflect practical conditions.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will also move in earnest to expand hanok-style design attractions to create regional landmarks, one of the national tasks of the popular sovereignty government. In the mid to long term, it is envisioning the creation of a "hanok architecture industry-academia-research cluster" that provides, in one place, "hanok design, material (component) production and distribution, specialized technical education, construction, and maintenance" for the industrialization of hanok architecture. This is being discussed so it can be included as a plan to vitalize hanok architecture in the forthcoming Third Basic Plan for the Promotion of Architectural Assets (2026-2030).
Choi Ah-reum, head of the Architectural Culture and Landscape Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MOLIT), said, "Hanok is an architectural asset imbued with the leisure and philosophy of our ancestors," adding, "We will continue efforts to build an ecosystem for hanok architecture so that hanok blends well with regional identity and becomes a beloved landmark and everyday space."