Blue House

Blue House
Korean name
Hangul	청와대
Hanja	靑瓦臺
Revised Romanization	Cheong(-)wadae
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'ŏngwadae

Cheongwadae (translation: The House of the Blue Roof Tiles or the Blue House, Office of the President of the Republic of Korea) is the executive office and official residence of the South Korean head of state, the President of the Republic of Korea. Both the English and Korean names refer to the building's blue-green roof. The Korean name has the literal meaning "house of the blue roof tiles." Cheongwadae is in fact a complex of buildings, built largely in the traditional Korean style with some modern elements.

At present, Cheongwadae consists of the main office building, the official Presidential residence, Yeongbin-gwan (영빈관, 迎賓館) or the guest house, the Chunchugwan (춘추관, 春秋館) press hall, and the secretariat buildings. The entire complex covers 76,685 pyeong (about 250,000 m²).

History

The location of Cheongwadae 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 Kaesŏng, and it also maintained a western capital at Pyongyang and an eastern capital at Gyeongju.

After the Joseon dynasty (1392-1910) moved its capital to Hanyang, Gyeongbok Palace 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 Governor-General of Korea used the Gyeongbokgung grounds for the government-general building. In 1939, Japan built an official residence/office for the governor-general on the site of Cheongwadae.

With the establishment of the Republic of Korea in 1948, President Syngman Rhee 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 changed the name to "Cheongwadae" after he was inaugurated in 1960.

In 1968 North Korean infiltrators nearly reached the building. In the ensuing melee, 28 North Koreans, 68 South Koreans and three Americans died.

Presidents Park Chung-hee, Choi Kyu-ha and Chun Doo-hwan used it 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 Chunchugwan, were built. The main office building was opened in April 1991.

In 1993, after President Kim Young-sam's civilian administration was launched, the Japanese governor-general's residence in the Cheongwadae compound was dismantled to remove a major symbol of the Japanese colonial occupation.

Setting

Geomancers have long considered the area in which Cheongwadae is located as a lucky 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 Cheongwadae is the mountain Bukhansan, flanked by two mountains, Naksan, symbolizing the Blue 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.

Near the entrance to the Blue House grounds
Monument on road in front of the Blue House, administrative building in background
Blue House in front of Bukhansan