Chiwoonjung offers regal Korean dining, boarding

The view from the entrance to Chiwoonjung boutique hanok hotel in Seoul All photos courtesy of Chiwoonjung

By Kim Ji-soo

Korea's longing to modernize still has the country racing toward the cutting-edge. As that speed accelerates, the longing to hold onto what remains of traditional Korea has strengthened. More people and spaces are living out the longing, such as Chiwoonjung, a boutique hanok hotel atop Bukchon.

Bukchon is where traditional Korean houses known as "hanok" huddle in clusters — some expansive and regal looking and some regular residences — in close vicinity to Gyeongbok and Changdeok palaces. Foreign tourists as well as Koreans are often seen admiring the houses and the neighborhood, consciously and unconsciously traveling back in time. Atop of one alley stands Chiwoonjung, which takes its name from the pavilion where Korean kings of the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) used to rest their palanquin on their way back to the palace. The hanok is also famous because former President Lee Myung-bak was elected as President there to serve from 2008 through 2013.

One of Chiwoonjung's charm is from there, one can turn southward and see the expansive rollout of modern Korea — Namsan Tower and soaring apartments — as if from a vantage point of standing at some time in Korea's past to foresee how Seoul has developed in a century since.

The lucky owner of this hanok hotel is Lee Sook-hee, 57, who has been operating Chiwoonjung since 2011.

"I wanted to put nature here in Chiwoonjung, the plants, the trees, the sun and even the wind, as they are, as I remember from my young days in Milyang, South Gyeongsang Province," Lee Sook-hee, said in an interview with The Korea Times.

"Come late October and November, when the chrysanthemums come into full bloom, I want those who stay here to be fully immersed in those flowers, the look and the scent and integrity," she said. "Traditional Korean aesthetics are about simplicity, the shadow, the nuances that our simple things create. I wanted to show that here," she said.

Chiwoonjung owner and chef Lee Sook-hee

After success with her Korean restaurant Doore, Lee bought the hanok from a family who had owned it for 70 years. As a hanok that wears all those years, Chiwoonjung is bigger than most. Yet it is smaller than modern edifices — its windows and its doors are small, prompting one to imagine how Koreans of the past were smaller in size and enjoyed heated floor living. As a modern hotel, it is essentially four units with modern facilities. Lee renovated the place with the help of the designer for the hanok Hotel Ragung in Gyeongju. Chiwoonjung has four units of space according to the traditional Korean house spatial term — the "anbang" (main bedroom), "daecheongbang" (living room), "sarangchae" (men's living quarters), and "byeoldangchae" (a separate annex building). The living room offers three bedrooms, while all other units commonly have one bedroom, antechamber and a bathroom. Along with the rooms, guests can also enjoy Korean breakfasts and dinners, prepared by Lee.

The bedding, the cutlery, the desserts and robes for guests are prepared by her and her staff. Here and there, old-style Korean pillows and furniture carve out their space. "Here, you can see a sum of what I have experienced, learned and enjoyed over the years," she said. The prices range from 500,000 won to 1.5 million won per night, hefty, but Lee said she believes this reflects the efforts to convey traditional Korean living including clothes, food and drink.

Lee is originally from Milyang, South Gyeongsang Province. She spoke frankly about her life; that she was the oldest daughter of two born to a wealthy father, and her mother, who was a second wife. Lee said she graduated from high school and came to Seoul in 1979, when her father's business failed and the family went bankrupt. From Seoul, she worked at a company, ran a cafe and a clothing store before starting the restaurant Doore in her 20s. She said she learned traditional Korean dance, calligraphy and all the things she yearned to learn. "I love traditional Korean dancing, the traditional Korean sound, but I ended up earning a living. I had to," she said. Much of her cooking is derived from family home food, and over the past decades she has collected and learned through 1,000 cookbooks including those from North Korea.

At Doore, which is located in Insa-dong, she puts forth different menus every day. The dishes there do not use artificial seasoning, but rely mainly mushroom, radish, dried anchovy and kelp. The taste as a result is clean and light on the stomach.

Asked what her success with her restaurant was; "I cooked the food of the season. I also remembered customers, what they liked and what their preferences were be it Korean or foreigners. The customers were my teachers, you can say," she said.

As a single mother of one daughter, she said she suffered through various rumors and many ups and downs in her life and business.

The main bedroom of Chiwoonjung

"This Chiwoonjung is my pride, and it is the pride of Korean traditional culture. We are nowhere near full occupancy at any rate, but I don't want to downgrade our quality or rates. I wish to further upgrade it," Lee said. "This Gahoe-dong is where the elegant culture of the highbrow elite of the Joseon Kingdom and the court lives on to some extent. I hope we can preserve it," she said.

That is why she works to oversee the food that is prepared at the Chiwoonjung kitchen downstairs. The food at Doore is more popular menu, while the food at Chiwoonjung leans toward more elaborate.

A lunch made of abalone and vegetables for guests of Chiwoonjung

As the owner/chef of Doore, she also operates a Doore in Jamsil Lotte Tower and plans to open another one in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province soon. And as a hotelier, Lee works "sometimes from 4 a.m. in the morning through 1 a.m." She is a frequent visitor to the early morning markets at Gyeongdong in eastern Seoul, the Noryangjin fisheries market and also Garak all in Seoul.

"I love the early morning market where every imaginable fresh ingredient comes from around the nation," she said.

She admits that Doore has helped her operate Chiwoonjung for the past six years. She does wish that the government would do more to preserve the traditional relics or culture still remaining in Gahoe-dong. But meanwhile, she does her best by creating spaces where people can enjoy traditional culture.

"I hope that with Chiwoonjung, (and Doore), I can be a messenger, a conveyor of traditional Korean food and culture. I hope we can continue this," she said.