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The 2016 Seoul Hanok Expo will be held on Feb. 18-21 at Seoul Trade Exhibition and Convention center (SETEC) in Daechi-dong, Seoul. Here are some details about the exhibition.

l  Venue and Times of 2016 SeoulHanok Expo

l  Objectives of Seoul Hanok Expo

l  Background of Seoul Hanok Expo

l  Hanok policy of Seoul MetropolitanGovernment

l  Uniqueness of Hanok

l  Importance of Hanok Expo

l  Participants of Seoul Hanok Expo

l  Expected Visitors

l  Contents of the exhibition

l  Hands-on programs

l  Public contests in Seoul HanokExpo

l  Visitors’ Benefit

l  More Information

1.    Venue andTimes of 2016 Seoul Hanok Expo

-     The 2016Seoul Hanok Expo is the largest exhibition of its kind ever to be held inKorea.

-     The Expowill be held at SETEC, Seoul Trade Exhibition and Convention center, located atDaechi-dong, Seoul, in front of Hangyeoul Station, subway line #3, from February18^th to 21^st for 4 days.

2.Objectives of Seoul Hanok Expo

-     The main purpose of Seoul Hanok Expo is tointroduce the beauty and technology of our traditional houses, and to accommodateever increasing demands for Hanok among growing generations through systemizedexhibition and professional public relations

-     It will also serve to promotecommunications and open discussions among professional craftsmen in the developmentof Hanok as a better option for future residence

-     As a result, Seoul Hanok Expo willhelp increase the supply of Hanok with creative interpretation of traditionalmerits of Hanok as an option for healthy modern residence.

3.Background of Seoul Hanok Expo

-     It isorganized for the first time in Seoul. There is a similar exhibition held byYoungam county in Cheolanamdo. But it is a kind of regional fair, not so muchimpressive to the public in terms of location, scale and contents.

-     The idea ofa hanok expo based on the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Hanok AssetDeclaration which was announced in July, 2015.

-     According to the Declaration, SeoulMetropolitan Government has a vision to increase Hanok town from 34 to 100 by2020 not only to promote environmental friendly and healthy living for Seoulcitizens but to promote and preserve our traditional housing.

4. Hanok policy of SeoulMetropolitan Government

-     Livingin a hanok has become fashionable and Seoul City has been trying hard topromote areas such as Bukchon and Seochon, historicneighborhoods in central Seoul with scores of hanok, attracting tourists andlocals alike. The host of this every event is the Seoul MetropolitanGovernment.

-      The city government has involved interms of preserving and promoting hanok. First of all,Seoul Metropolitan Government has established a call center for the residentsof Hanok in Seoul City to provide one-stop-service in maintaining their Hanokin terms of examination of needs for repair, architectural guidance andfinancial funding.

-     In accordance with the Declaration financialassistance is also available; for a new Hanok construction 60M won of subsidyand 40M won of soft loan available and for repairing existing Hanok allnecessary materials like timbers, tiles, stones worth up to 10M won isavailable at free of charge.

5. Uniqueness of Hanok

-     Hanok is one of the leading environmentalfriendly houses in the world because most of the building materials are madeout of wood, clay, stones and papers.

-     Also, the all the bedrooms have Ondol system whichis the heating system with clay floor and the living room has wood floor whichprovides nice and cool environment.

-     These two controversial systems providedKoreans to enjoy cool environment at living room during the summer and warmenvironment at bedrooms during the winter.

-     It is amazing that the Hanok’s architecturaltechnology was generated hundreds of years ago and the current Hanok in Seoulcity is more than 50 years old houses.

-     As a result, Hanok is super solid andconcrete house even though it is made out of environmental friendly materials.

6.Importance of Hanok Expo

-     As a matterof fact Hanok and other traditional cultural things are no more seniors’sector. It can be seen easily that many young people at Bukchon or Namsan Hanokvillage are wearing Hanbok and taking photos.

-     It seemsthat as the younger generations are getting more exposed to abroad things, theyfind that ours are not inferior to western culture. They seem to have newsights on our traditional heritage.

-     There aremore than 7,000 students studying traditional architecture and craftsmanship atuniversities, colleges, even at Hanok schools.

-     They needjobs, business opportunities and public recognition. They also needcommunication with master craftsmen directly or indirectly through theirproducts.

-     The exhibition,hopefully, could serve to meet such needs and help younger generation maketheir dreams come true in their fields.

-     The Expo isfor public benefit not for private one. It is also related to job creation foryounger generation in cultural and technological sector.

-     We talkabout creative economy and cultural enrichment as our national agenda. Investmentin our traditional housing sector is one of plausible options for economicdevelopment and job creation. It can also serve to enrichment of current Koreancultural stream, Hanryu.

-     In terms of basicneeds for human being, for western people food comes first than shelter orclothing. For Chinese people shelter comes first; for Koreans, clothing comesfirst. Among them Chinese people could be right in a sense that shelterenvironment makes a big influence on the way of thinking of dwellers.

-     Korean wayof thinking has been largely fomented by our traditional housing environment,for example, seniority respect, dining table education, etc. To be a trueKorean, it would be better for Koreans to live in Hanok not a flat or concretebuilding.

-     The ultimategoal of Hanok Expo is to promote Hanok living for growing generations.

7. Participants of Seoul HanokExpo

-     More than300 companies will be participating at the expo. Not only theconstruction companies but design offices, various building material providers,and even marketing agencies for a new Hanok town will be participating.

8. Expected Visitors

-     It is expectedthat around 80,000 visitors and participants including 10,000 foreigners eitherfrom abroad or living in Korea.

-     Openinvitations to foreign schools, embassies, associations in Korea have beenalready mailed and emphases are put on the invitation of multi-cultureresidents in Korea so that they may understand origin of Korean tradition andculture in terms of food, shelter and clothing.

9. Contents of the exhibition

-     The exhibition will be composed of 3 themes:

-     Main theme is, not to mention, traditionalHanok construction process; it will be displayed by national master craftsmen,in terms of designing, we call it Dopyun, stone laying, we call it Juchutdol,main and detail structure, we call them Daemok and Somok, roof tiling, we callit Wagong, traditional heating system, we call it Ondol, and interior designersand craftsmen.

-     At this exhibition visitors can enjoy watchingand learning traditional house designs, construction methodologies, buildingmaterials and tools, etc. with direct explanation by master craftsmen.

-     Also there will be special exhibitionsections where young architects and college students exhibiting their Hanok designsin modern way.

-     Second theme is Hanok related industry, forexample, companies related to designing, construction, stone, timber, tile,heating system, interior, exterior, furniture, etc.

-     Visitors can enjoy comprehensive informationindustry wise. Potential consumers of Hanok can also have relevant informationon policy support including financial assistance.

-     Third theme is Hanok living; wood craft,earthen ware, china, traditional clothing, Hanbok, Korean paper, Hanji, Koreantea, folk painting, etc. There will also be an exhibition of art and productsmade by young artists and craftsmen.

-     Just imagine the exhibition as a full set of largeround table arranged with delicious Korean traditional dishes, in Korean terms,Hansang or Janchitsang.

10. Hands-onprograms

-     Regardinghands-on programs, visitors willhave a chance to watch the national master craftsman’s demonstration of makingbuilding materials such as traditional roof tiles, woodcrafts and so on.

-     In addition, there will be Korean traditionaltea tasting booth where visitors can also learn tea manners and Hanbok experiencebooth where visitors can actually try on Hanbok and take photos.

-     For outdoor programs, in order to add more fun and interestingelements to the event a couple of blacksmiths from Jinchun and Boeun in Chungchungbuk-dohave been invited, to show their traditional way of working, for example,heating, forging, and finishing iron bars into farming tools or other livingarts, particularly for students from kindergarten and elementary schools.

-     Visitors canjoin in the part of working process making some ornaments like key chain underthe guidance of master smith.

-     Pre-registrationfor this experience ticket is available at the website, www.hanexpo.co.kr, it’s for free of charge and first-come-first-servebasis.

11. Public Contests in Seoul Hanok Expo>

-     It isimportant that the 2016 Seoul Hanok Expo attempts to engage Hanok experts andnon-experts alike including students. There are increasing numbers of youngartists, craftsmen, and students engaged in Hanok related business.

-     In order tostimulate their concern and participation in this event four public contestsare offered; Hanok design, Hanok photo, Hanok poster and traditional furnituredesign. These contests could serve, hopefully, more participation and visitsfrom young designers, artists and general public.

-     For thosewho want to join, they can check the website at and there is a pop-up windowfor application.

12. Visitors’ Benefit

-     Hank expo is designed as a culturalexhibition where visitors can learn and experience not only the history ofKorean traditional houses but the architectural process of Hanok: thehistorical exterior and interior designing, nature based building materials,traditional way of house construction and more.

-     Also, there will be numerous experienceprograms for the visitors to try and feel the Korean traditions during the Hanokexpo.

-     Particularly for foreigners they can enjoyshopping opportunities of various Korean traditional artifacts; wood crafts,chinas, embroidery products, folk paintings, and small souvenirs produced byboth master craftsmen and young artists.

13. More Information

-     For thosewho are interested in learning more about the expo, please visitthe website at www.hanexpo.co.kr and dopre-register for free admission tickets because if they register during theexpo, there will be 5,000 won ticket price.

-     If foreigners do pre-register, there will bea translator available to help their tour at exhibition providing the detailedinformation and guidance.