Damian Koh, The restoration of Cheong Gye Cheon (청계천)

The restoration of Cheong Gye Cheon (청계천)

Decided to drop by Cheong Gye Cheon (청계천) after Christmas brunch with the Singapore Club at Millennium Seoul Hilton this afternoon. The Cheong Gye Cheon, popular with city residents and tourists, is a creek flowing through downtown Seoul before emptying in the Yellow Sea.

Republished from the plaque along Cheong Gye Cheon:

The Cheong Gye Cheon Restoration

“The Cheong Gye Cheon is a stream running through central Seoul from west to east.

During the Joseon Dynastry (1392 - 1910), housewives gathered at the stream to do laundry, while their children played together. Around 1760, major renovations were carried out along the stream. Thus the Cheong Gye Cheon developed the appearance that we see today.

From the 1900s until after the Korean War (1950 - 1953), people who left their homes in rural areas to find jobs or a better living in Seoul built one makeshift house after another alongside the stream, making the area a shantytown.

In 1958, efforts to improve the poor aesthetic condition of the Cheong Gye Cheon began by covering the stream with concrete and this work continued for the ensuing 20 years. In 1976, an elevated highway was built over top. Consequently, the Cheong Gye Cheon, which was one regarded as a symbol of the nation’s development and growth, had vanished.

A few decades later, the citizens of Seoul were faced with such grave issues as the decreased aesthetic value of the city coupled with concerns for safety and security. As a result the citizens of Seoul who were more sensitive to environmental-friendly ways of thinking agreed that it should be restored as a clean stream.

Finally, the Seoul Metropolitan Government made a decision to restore the stream with the objective of forming a human-centered, ecological-friendly urban area in a city that has been the nations’ capital for 600 years.

On October 1, 2005, the restoration work of the Cheong Gye Cheon was successfully completed after the historical commencement on July 1, 2003. Storeowners and street vendors that operated small businesses along the stream initially objected to the project. However, they finally understood that the improvements would help create prosperity and make Seoul a nicer place to live. With the completion of this historical project designed to restore cleanliness, culture and tradition to the stream, Seoul is finally reborn as an international city that values its environment and human life.”