Atop earthen walls we stood, countless thatched roofs beneath us stretching across an ancient landscape at this remote corner of the Korean Peninsula. Something vaguely reminded of the Japanese mountain village of Shirakawago, yet this place is even more secluded and harder to reach, and just as difficult to pronounce.
We're at the medieval walled village of Naganeupseong (낙안읍성), the last remaining sample of a fortified regional capital from Joseon Dynasty Korea. Beyond the watchtower balustrade was a backdrop worthy of the latest K-drama production, except that these charming huts of wood and mud still serve as residences for centuries-old local clans, some dating from the 1300s.
It's a living fossil among dozens of former county seats from feudal Korea, nearly all of them dismantled under Japanese colonization and subsequently devoured by rapid urbanization of the post-Korean War era. Amazingly little has affected this 600-year-old commune, home to several hundred villagers now credited for keeping alive the traditional rituals and folk arts of Korea's deep south.
Once the prevalent architecture across Korea when tiled roofs were considered too decadent for peasants, the thatched-roofed chogajib has become an endangered species in the 21st century, preserved mainly in three remote villages far away from Seoul. While the other two -- Hahoe and Yangdong in Gyeongsangbuk-do -- have been elevated to UNESCO World Heritage Sites and enjoying international fame, Naganeupseong remains on the tentative list and continues to fly under the radar of foreign tourists ... at least for now.
If you love off-the-beaten-track gems, Naganeupseong is one of my top recommendations especially when combined with the nearby UNESCO World Heritage temple of Seonamsa (30 minutes by car or bus) and Korea's largest tea plantation at Boseong (1 hour drive). Adding the Suncheon Bay National Garden and the coastal grassland's famous hanwoo beef to the itinerary, it made a great excursion for a 48-hour car rental.
At the last minute we booked our two-night stay at a traditional hanok guesthouse, attached to a restaurant just outside the walled village with free parking. The key influence here was the comfort of an ensuite bathroom for the cold February nights, without the consideration of which we could have taken our chance with any chogajib farmhouse within the village.
In low season our gracious hosts upgraded us to a two-room suite equipped with a platform bed with a mattress. The modern necessity of air conditioning/heating was a given, along with ondol floor heating for chilly evenings spent watching those crazy Korean game shows on TV.
The kitchen was functional with an induction stove top, microwave, sink and fridge with a foldable soban low table for a breakfast of instant porridge on the warm ondol floor. Bathroom came with your typical Korean shower that made everything wet. Ugh.
Waking up to the soft light coming through the hanji latticed paper windows was a treat. Ahead of us was a full day of sightseeing starting with Naganeupseong and moving onto Seonamsa after lunch, followed by Suncheon Bay National Garden and wrapping up with dinner at Suncheon's Aretjang Market.
The village entrance was marked by a collection of whimsical jangseung, long dismissed as vestiges of Korea's shamanistic past and only recently rediscovered as folk art and propagated by the few village elders who still possess the craftsmanship. While the jangseung were meant to ward off evil spirits, the main guardian of the village was an unmortared stone wall that remains largely circumnavigable to this date.
Fortified on a flat agricultural plain against the threat of medieval Japanese pirates, Naganeupseong was a thriving regional centre of a thousand farmers and government workers back in its Joseon Dynasty heyday. Nowadays the walled town is still inhabited by two hundred locals in their ancestral homes of earthen walls and wooden beams, and of course the signature roofs that have to be re-thatched every year.
Despite the advent of 21st century tourism, the villagers' agrarian lifestyle is evidenced by the universal presence of onggi urns, indispensable for storage and fermentation of vegetables and seasonings to survive the harsh Korean winter.
The wood-fired kiln of a ceramicist was just one example of Naganeupseong's significance as a 21st century repository of traditional arts and folk rituals, culminating annually in a full-scale celebration of Daeboreum including an elaborate straw-burning procession attracting TV crews every winter.
At least half of these thatched huts seasonally operate as minbak guesthouses to provide a truly immersive experience into Korean village life. Despite their rustic earthen appearances many cottage are now fitted with the modern convenience of air-conditioning and ondol floors heated by electric wires rather than the old-fashioned hearth. That said, one can expect the bathroom in the form of an outhouse in the courtyard.
The largest and most elegant residence now houses the Naganeupseong Preservation Society -- and doubles as the de facto corner store for the villagers. Together with eight other structures that survived both Japanese colonization and the Korean War, these Joseon Dynasty relics now comprise a cluster of national heritage buildings often featured in period K-dramas, including the original Daejanggeum.
Perhaps the most prominent building is the vividly restored pavilion of Nakminru, located next to the old magistrate's office and perfect for the Joseon Dynasty governor's poetry parties and moon-viewing pleasure.
A courthouse diorama graces the tile-roofed mansion of the local governor, the most beloved being national hero Im Gyeong-eop who defended the Joseon Dynasty against a 17th century Manchurian invasion. A 300-year-old stone stele dedicated to the legendary general has warranted its own protective roof at the centre of the village.
General Im's lasting imprint on Naganeupseong was its full-scale ramparts of elegant watchtowers and robust hewn stone -- no small endeavour for a town of merely a thousand -- now considered among the best preserved in Korea. Local legends tell of a friendly competition between the general and his seamstress elder sister on whether the general's soldiers would complete the ramparts before the local women would grow enough cotton to provide them with quilted armours.
A panorama from the rampart's highest point reveals the fertile coastal plains of Nagan River and its traditional crops of rice and radishes, 150 km from the medieval Japanese pirate base of Tsushima which necessitated these walls.
From the vantage point of the walls one gains a rare peek into a pastoral lifestyle largely unchanged since the Joseon Dynasty. Despite the existence of minbak guesthouses and hanbok rental shops, we barely ran into any other visitor, Korean or foreign, on this February day.
Late February also marked the start of plum blossom season at the Korean Peninsula's southern shore. These blossoms at Naganeupseong was just a foretaste of one of Korea's most famous plum-viewing locales, the UNESCO World Heritage temple of Seonamsa located just 10 km to the north.
This pictured hotteok joint was among the multifarious food options at Naganeupseong. We nearly sat down at a noodle stand inside the walled village until I remembered to consult the Korean reviews on Naver Map.
We tried two different restaurants over our two night stay at Naganeupseong. One was a forgettable Sundubu place not even worth reviewing; the other was a recommendable eatery known as Seonbichon (선비촌, see map). You won't find any English signage outside nor any English menus inside -- see the above picture for what the place looks like.
The lack of English menus shouldn't be a problem as the place offers only two choices -- a standard table d'hôte or an even more substantial table d'hôte covering all the regional specialties. We're talking freshwater crabs, blood cockles from nearby shellfish farms plus Hanwoo beef patties from the coastal grasslands, all for a reasonable 19000 Won (CAD$22) per person.
Arguably Jeollanam-do Province's most famous dish, the pillowy and savory tteokgalbi is a meaty treat once reserved for the royal court when no peasant could afford to slaughter a ploughing cattle. These days the nearby grasslands of Suncheon Bay has become the province's capital of Hanwoo beef, a premium ingredient worthy of a dedicated meal at Suncheon the next night.
Of course no serious foodie would leave without sampling the regional specialty of Ggomakhoe Muchim, or tender blood cockles marinated in a sweet and spicy soy mixture. It's impossible to miss as every restaurant in town featured this one dish.
Down it with a shot of soju or wrap it in a ssambap -- you've got to love the umami essence of this underrated shellfish from Korea's cockle capital of Beolgyo, a 10 minute drive south of here.
And rather than the standard doenjang jjigae, our hotpot came with the luxury of a whole freshwater crab -- and paired with a mild doenjang so avoid overpowering the crab's delicate umami flavour.
A sweet and chewy gamja-jeon was one of the memorable banchans in a surprisingly good meal for a major tourist attraction. For even better price-performance-ratios you'd have to take the short drive to Suncheon; this place would do for a quick meal after visiting Naganeupseong.
Meal for Two Persons
| Tteokgalbi Jeonsik x 2 | 38000 Won |
| Soju | 4000 Won |
| TOTAL | 42000 Won (CAD$48) |
IF YOU GO
Naganeupseong is located near Korea's southern coastline in Jeollanam-do Province. From Seoul, take the highspeed KTX train (3 hours) to the nearest city of Suncheon. While several local buses (61/63/68) can bring you to Naganeupseong, I highly recommend renting a car (there is a Lotte Rent-a-Car branch next to the train station) and visit both Naganeupseong and nearby Seonamsa temple, and perhaps Korea's largest tea plantation at Boseong if you can afford more than one day.
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