Hadong Pyeongsari Choe Champan House Becomes Center of 'Okcance'

Selected for 4 Consecutive Years in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tourism Resource Development Contest

Cheongsongjae Creation, Renovation of Kim Hunjang's House and Pyeongsanne

Hadong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do, has been selected for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's tourism resource development contest and will build a Hanok hotel, Cheongsongjae, in the Pyeongsari area.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Hadong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, has been finally selected as the implementation area for this year’s “Regional Specialized Eco-friendly Accommodation Facility Development Project” hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Following the selection for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s 2019-2021 planned contest-type tourism resource development project, Gyeongnam Province has been chosen for large-scale national funding support in the tourism resource development field for four consecutive years.

The “Regional Specialized Eco-friendly Accommodation Facility Development Project” aims to build facilities that can become tourist attractions solely through accommodation by utilizing existing idle facilities in cities facing population extinction.

It was inspired by the increasing preference for accommodation facilities due to the spread of COVID-19, such as “hotel vacations” (hokangseu) where people enjoy holidays at hotels, and “hanok vacations” (okangseu) where people spend vacations in traditional Korean houses.

According to the 2020 National Travel Survey, Gyeongnam Province boasts one of the top three richest natural landscapes nationwide, but satisfaction with accommodation facilities ranked 8th nationwide, showing somewhat low overall satisfaction.

Gyeongsangnam-do collaborated with Hadong-gun to apply for the contest and was finally selected, laying the foundation for establishing accommodation facilities unique to Gyeongnam Province.

The project site is the area around “Choi Champan’s House” in Pyeongsari, Agyang-myeon, Hadong-gun, Gyeongnam Province, famous for the late author Park Kyung-ri’s epic novel “Toji (The Land).”

The county applied with the hanok hotel “Cheongsongjae (靑松齋),” themed around the story of the two blue pine trees of Seohee and Gilsang from the novel Toji, and was selected as the project site.

Out of the total project cost of 7.9 billion KRW, 3.9 billion KRW in national funds was secured to develop accommodation facilities with a total area of 1,122㎡ around Choi Champan’s House.

Two buildings?the Kim Hunjang’s house and Pyeongsan’s buildings featured in the novel?will be renovated, and two new hanok buildings will be constructed.

The thatched house previously used as the Toji filming set will be repurposed as shared office and sales spaces for locals and travelers, and a special accommodation space exclusively for newlyweds will also be operated.

The county plans to select a project promotion committee and hold an architectural design contest in the first half of this year, then begin new construction and remodeling of accommodation facilities in the second half, aiming for completion by the end of 2023.

Among the selected contest sites is also “Almost Homestay,” a hanok accommodation facility proudly operated under consignment by Kolon in Hadong-gun.

It is very popular with tourists, with over 96% annual reservation rates, and is known as a honeymooners’ hotspot, attracting a young demographic and called a “filial tourism facility.”

The county stated that as the project progresses, it will have a synergistic effect with existing hanok accommodations and improve the readiness to accommodate foreign tourists with “the most Korean style charm.”

Gyeongnam Province and Hadong-gun announced plans to “make the area a famous accommodation spot through this project and register the province’s first hanok hotel, Cheongsongjae, within three years.”

Along with the reputation of Almost Homestay, the establishment of the hanok hotel is expected to increase tourist satisfaction for those visiting Gyeongnam.

An official from the provincial tourism promotion department said, “This will revitalize the western Gyeongnam area, where population extinction is accelerating, and serve as an opportunity for tourism industry development. We carefully reviewed the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s new policies this year and prepared thoroughly in advance, which allowed us to pass through the narrow gate of being selected as one of only two nationwide.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.