The Cheonggyecheon Stream defines the history of Seoul. Ghosts still lurk its winding path. Learn the surprising stories behind the stream that Seoul never left well enough alone.

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Notes

• General
  • 10.84 km
  • All northern Seoul’s water gathers here and flows eastward to Jungnangcheon outside Wangsimni (between Hanyang University Seoul Campus and Gunja Vehicle Office)
    • Source is Suseongdong Valley in Inwangsan
  • Then goes west to Han River
  • Symbolizes the urban development of Seoul
  • Throughout its history, it’s always been reshaped
• Joseon Era
  • Originally named Gaecheon – “Open River?”
  • Susceptible to flooding. Private houses regularly got flooded
  • First water removal project started
  • King Yeongjo (1694-1724)
    • Mobilized 200,000 to carry out full-fledged river opening projects for 57 days
      • Dredging, cross-slope stone shafting, altering the flow path, making it straighter
    • Still had to be repaired regularly, and it still flooded
      • Would regularly dry up in places
      • Junk would stop it up
      • Sewage would stagnate
  • Dredging continued from the 1790s through the Colonial Era
• Colonial Period
  • Changed the name to Cheonggyecheon
  • Dozens of corpses were dumped there every day, plagued with wastewater
  • (1917) first sewer repair plan but held up because of post-WWI depression
  • (1920s) Obstruction and sanitation of river became a big issue
  • (mid-1930s) Chosun Urban Planning Ordinance
    • Full-scale urban planning
    • increased budget
  • (1937) Started covering the tributaries, creating today’s winding roads
    • Partially covered main stream
    • Expanded roads and installed sewers
    • WWII slowed this down
• Korean War
  • Shantytowns popped up around it
  • The stench freely flowed, especially during flooding season
• Republic of Korea
  • (1958) Covering project continued
  • (April 1960) First stage completed and created a highway
  • (1967- Aug 15, 1976) Construction of Cheonggye Overpass
    • Covered 5.4 km on one part and 2.4 km on another
    • Mayor of Seoul was Kim Hyeon-ok, the original Bulldozer
      • also oversaw Namsan Tunnel, Gwanghwamun Underpass, Myeong-dong Underpass, Sewoon Shopping Mall
      • And Wau Apartments!
  • Ghosts were said to still inhabit the area from the unknown corpses that kept getting dumped in the river before then
• Cheonggye Overpass Era
  • Surprisingly, this is kind of romanticized
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCxi64U2UIs&feature=emb_imp_woyt
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU2qZwKfMmI
  • Lot of vendors selling EVERYTHING
    • Most famous for used books, antique shops, miscellany
    • “You can assemble a tank (or a submarine) by going around the Cheonggyecheon once”
    • It is said that the development team obtained a 155mm artillery barrel to make a rocket combustion chamber when the Baekgom Missile was developed under Park Chung-hee
  • (1970s-80s) Cradle of electronics markets
    • Expensive B&W portable TVs, where people could watch TV in the mountains
  • Tropical Fish Market
    • Between Dongdaemun and Dongmyo
    • Exotic animal market, really
    • Crocodiles, tortoises, birds, insects, along with controversial medicines
    • Many were smuggled
    • Lots of abuse
      • hamsters would burn alive in the summer and tear each other’s flesh
  • Manic feeling in these markets – the place to find rare and illegal things
    • This included Japanese products/movies/manghwa/music because Japanese imports were illegal
    • Along with Itaewon, those were Korea’s exposure to foreign pop culture
    • Early K-Pop acts found their roots in obtaining CDs in Itaewon and Cheonggye Markets (Seo Taeji)
  • Even without the Cheonggye Restoration, the market would have died out with the Internet, similar to Yongsan
• Cheonggyecheon Restoration
  • (1990s) Aging structure was of concern
    • Cheonggye Overpass was over 30 years old and in danger of collapse, as what may happen when you build a structure over a waterway
      • U.S. military advised not to go on it
    • The centers of Seoul had moved to places like Gangnam, lessening the need for the overpass
    • Overpasses cut off districts and were eyesores
  • Professors Noh Su-hong and Lee Hee-du (Yonsei) and novelist Park Kyung-ri created the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Research Society Symposium
  • The third symposium in 2002, potential mayoral candidate Lee Myung-bak attended
    • Promised to restore the Cheonggyecheon if elected
  • (July 1, 2003) Construction began. Completed (Sept 30, 2005)
  • Problems
    • Compensation
      • Garden Five
        • (Jan 2003) Negotiations for relocation 
          • Seoul City only wanted to select alternative sites
          • Refused to compensate for business losses or to delay the project 
          • No signed agreements or documents from the city, even for what they were promising
          • Lee Myung-bak had a habit of not using documents or leaving a paper trail
            • “When a policy is announced, it can be implemented as it is. Unlike corporations, the government does not negotiate with anyone over policy. Therefore, no contract is required.”
            • Left
          • More demands – only one document was given
          • Kinda tricked them because the group created for relocation was only temporary and had to be revived each year. So every agreement evaporated.
        • Oh Se-hoon also did something akin to this, including talking of relocating to Garden Five, when demolishing Dongdaemun Stadium
        • Garden Five ended up becoming a shit show
        • Some merchants predicted this and just moved to other areas
        • We’ll get into that disaster in another episode
    • Restoration Issues
      • Archaeological
        • Old bridges and Joseon relics emerged and would need construction to stop for evaluation and preservation
        • 2MB held a press conference and declared that they weren’t of historical value
          • Couldn’t delay construction–mayoral term is ending, presidential election coming
        • Relics sitting at the sewage treatment plant
          • Some were restored and in the Seoul Sewerage Science Museum (someone needs to talk to their PR)
        • Bridges weren’t correctly restored
          • BUT Supyo Bridge still has its original form at Jangchungdan Park
          • We’ll go into the bridges in another episode
    • Traffic
      • Biggest dissension at the time
        • Experts didn’t satisfactorily reply to this
      • Still the traffic has not been solved
      • Road expansion is impossible
      • Irony: Discussion of partially restoring the overpass
    • Environment
      • Artificialness
        • The original source at Ingwanan is mostly dry
        • The lost waterway from there is now roads
        • Pumped in a mixture of Han River and groundwater 4:1
      • The upstream part is all artificial and sculpted while it gets wilder and more natural downstream
      • Strange fish species
        • Accused Seoul of dumping fish into the river (refused)
        • May be other people added odd fish
      • Excessive e. Coli and other fecal bacteria detected
        • Though accounts from Joseon inhabitants and foreigners at the time–the stream was always stinky
        • Don’t drink it or wade in it–think of it as Venetian canal water
      • Misconception: It’s not supposed to be a natural stream. Think of it more as a water prop in a garden
    • Costs
      • Claim: 1.8 billion won per year ← may be just the water cost
      • 7 billion won per year — around 20 million per day
  • Effects since opening
    • Reduced the heat in the inner city
      • Water plus and opened wind path reduced temp by 3 degrees
      • And for the first time, no more flooding, all over Jongno
        • Everything runs into the Cheonggyecheon
        • It’s closed sometimes when the flooding can get big
    • Urban renewal
      • People said the area around it was becoming slummy, not just urban decay (like Pimatgol)
    • Raised land prices
    • Urban river maintenance has spread to other townships, even overseas
      • Not all good–Busan’s version has been quagmire for 10 years
• Opening ceremony (April 2010)
  • 50-something woman fell from Samil-gyo and died
  • http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20051003000029 
• Cheonggyecheon 2050 Master Plan
  • (2013 announced) Long term restoration of Cheonggyecheon to 2050
    • Solve problems of historicity, ecology, and maintenance
  • Short term plans (2014-2018)
  • Mid-term (2019-2030)
  • Long Term (2031-2050)
  • What it entails
    • Plant more native trees to create a more natural effect
    • Remove weirs and make it more naturally curvy (S-line, baby!)
    • Return Supyo Bridge to original position
      • By then end, Supyo, Gwantong, and Ogwan Sumun Gate will be restored
    • Baekundongcheon and Junghakcheon will be revived and connected to stabilize water supply
    • Complete maintenance of pedestrian priority street and surrounding facilities
  • It will not restore it to its original state
    • It needs a constant supply of water, and the original stream didn’t have that. It ran in cycles.
    • It will not change its path, like a natural river