A town full of colors

A colorful mural is drawn on the wall of one of the houses in the Ihwa mural village in Ihwa-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. / Korea Times photo by Yun Suh-young

Beneath Naksan Park lies a beautiful village full of murals.

But getting there isn’t easy. You need to walk up a long, uphill road which, when you’re walking on it, makes you feel as if you’re walking on a moving stairway, back through time.

The park is located in the innermost part of the district, away from the college town.

Starting off at Hyehwa Station you walk along a pathway that takes you on an incredible journey. You start out in the present, and feel that somehow you are moving back slowly and gradually in time to the early 2000s, the 1990s, the 80s, the 70s and 60s.

The noise which is so vibrant in the main street slowly fades away as you move step by step. Fewer people are seen on the street. The buildings are older and have fewer sign boards. Moreover, there are carts and very few cars, all contributing to a feeling that you have entered an earlier era.

When you reach near the entrance of the park, you begin seeing murals such as a mosaic camel and drawings of a man holding a dog by the collar and a tree. A yellow giraffe is also seen on the corner of the wall. It’s easy to overlook the murals if you just focus on going up looking at your feet.

So pay careful attention to the walls around you in order not to miss the fantastic art pieces.

Mural village

The mural village at the foot of Naksan Park is called Ihwa village or Ihwa mural village because it is geographically located in Ihwa-dong in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

The village turned into a mural village in 2006 as part of the culture ministry’s project to upgrade the image of the isolated regions.

Ihwa-dong and Dongsung-dong were culturally isolated towns despite their location juxtaposed to Daehangno, the college town in Hyehwa-dong.

In order to improve the living standards of the people in the two towns, give them an opportunity to enjoy art, and to minimize the towns’ cultural gap with the college town, the government began the mural project in this district. The project ended within six months, but the legacy lives on because many college students still participate in the mural drawings.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism initially recruited local citizens and college students to volunteer in the public project. Hansung University students took the rein in painting the murals because the school was located nearby.

Mural art

To see the mural art, however, you need not limit your destination to Ihwa village because the entire region at the foot of Naksan Park can be considered a mural village.

From any point at which you come down from the park, you will see buildings with colorful images painted on them. But you need to do a little legwork to see hidden murals that have not already been publicized too much. The most popular ones that are already well known to the public are those along the sidewalks or those near the main street where most people pass by.

However, to enjoy the thrill of new discovery, try going inside the narrow streets between houses and go down the steep stairs. You’ll find amazing murals that haven’t been photographed and uploaded onto the Internet yet. This discovery and adventure is part of the fun of visiting the mural village.

The village is already popular among bloggers who like to take photos or with professional photographers because of the beautiful scenery. The colors of the walls are so vivid that you may simply put your camera on auto-mode and still get great pictures. To get the best shots, go on a sunny day.

Naksan Park

When you visit the mural village, there’s one thing you shouldn’t miss_ a visit to Naksan Park.

The park is a great place for taking a stroll or for meditating. The moment you start walking up the hill, you’ll feel a difference in the air from the streets below.

Because the park is located on top of Mt. Nak as the name suggests, reaching the top may require a little effort and sweat. Still, it’s worth going up the hill because the scenery from the top is beautiful both in daylight and at night.

The park is surrounded by a fortress which emits classical grace. The picturesque cultural heritage creates a serene mood.

The park was established in 2002 as part of Seoul city’s plan to increase green areas in the region and to restore the historical site. Much of the mountain area was destroyed during the Japanese colonial era and again during the 1960s when the city carried out reckless re-development projects.

Steel art

On the way to the Naksan Park lies a series of steel art structures but these may be spotted on the way down from the park as well. This is one of the most popular photo spots in the mural village although the structures aren’t murals.

The steel structures can be seen along the street when you take a right turn before the entrance to the park. The best time to take photos here is at dusk when the sun shines from the opposite side creating black silhouettes of the structures.

How to get to there: To go to Naksan Park or the Ihwa mural village, take subway line 4 and get off at exit number 1 at Hyehwa Station. From the exit, take a right turn and follow the street sign with an arrow leading to the Naksan Park. Another way is to get out at exit number 2 and pass through Marronnier Park. The two routes provide different mural scenery. <The Korea Times/Yun Suh-young>

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