THE WEST - Living Abroad in South Korea - page 281

won even for trips from one end of town to the other. There are also frequent rail, road, and
air connections to Seoul, and the city has a small international airport that handles a few
flights from neighboring Japan and China.
JEONJU 전전주
Conflict, rapid-fire industrialization, and a seemingly inexhaustible appetite for standard-
issue apartment blocks have wiped out many of the historical structures in South Korean
cities, but Jeonju has remained something of an exception and is now famous as a result.
The city has no major industry to speak of, but in addition to being the capital of North
Jeolla Province and a significant educational center, has preserved more traditional archi-
tecture than any other major settlement in the country. Much of central Jeonju is taken up by
a hanok (Korean house) village, block after block of graceful wooden homes with hidden
courtyards and topped with distinctive curled roofs. The city is also dotted with old gates,
cathedrals, and shrines, and is crisscrossed by parks and streams, giving it a soothing cul-
tured air that even the slapdash newer construction in many areas can't detract from.
This respect for the old extends beyond the buildings; Jeonju's people are very proud of
their roots even by South Korean standards, and it's something of a magnet for historians,
scholars, and others interested in Korean traditions. Arts that have fallen out of favor else-
where in South Korea, such as the making of hanji (Korean paper) and home-brewed wines,
still command a healthy following here. It's a unique and in spots charming place that seems
to have more “soul” than a lot of other towns, and is ideally suited to culture buffs, students
of Korean arts, or those who don't mind the quieter life.
Despite the city's traditional air, most accommodations on offer are in average high-
rise apartments, which are fairly inexpensive, with rents for a midsize (around 100 square
meters) units typically about 500,000 won with a deposit of 2-5 million won, and selling
prices starting in the 130 million won range.
Culture
In many ways the whole city of Jeonju is a museum, and it also has a very large number
of cultural outlets for its limited (by South Korean standards) population of about 600,000.
The largest are the Sori Arts Center, which includes a massive theater and exhibition halls,
and the Traditional Cultural Center in Wansan-gu, which regularly stages performances
with an emphasis on indigenous music and opera. Dozens of smaller museums and galleries
cluster around the hanok village, devoted to everything from calligraphy and Asian medi-
cine to the battle for Korean independence, and the village also contains several homes of