K-Heritage Garden featured at the Seoul International Garden Show / Courtesy of Korea Heritage Service
Against the sprawling backdrop of Seoul Forest, the Korea Heritage Service (KHS) debuted the K-Heritage Garden, Monday, a centerpiece of this year’s Seoul International Garden Show that seeks to bridge the country’s storied past with modern horticultural design.
The heritage service’s latest installation marks the first physical application of a long-term research project aimed at modularizing traditional landscape architecture. By documenting and systematizing centuries-old design principles — such as the specific placement of stone basins and the orientation of pavilions — officials hope to provide a template that can be easily integrated into contemporary urban planning.
The installation at the Seoul International Garden Show draws its primary inspiration from the backyard garden of the Choe Jun house in Gyeongju. A prominent businessman and philanthropist in the early 20th century, Choe was a pivotal figure in the Korean independence movement, famously funneling his family’s vast wealth toward the liberation effort against colonial rule. By distilling the DNA of this aristocratic Joseon Dynasty estate into a replicable format, the KHS is betting that the aesthetics of the past can find a permanent home in the high-density cities of the future.
The grounds recreate the intimate feel of the backyard garden of an aristocrat's home, with terraced flower beds (hwagye), walls, a narrow side gate and a raised wooden deck (numaru) arranged along a gently sloping terrain.
The trees used in the garden were cultivated at a traditional tree nursery located at Sareung, the royal tomb of Queen Jeongsun, consort of King Danjong of the Joseon Dynasty. The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center's in-house landscaping unit planted the trees using traditional horticultural techniques.
The project also carries a public-private dimension. The central numaru structure was funded in part through proceeds from sales of a CLIO Cosmetics product under a cooperation agreement with the heritage service.
In turn, KHS supported CLIO in incorporating timber salvaged from the Andong wildfires of March 2025 into a corporate garden the company built adjacent to the K-Heritage Garden, titled "K Beauty Garden & Pavilion," to raise awareness of wildfire damage.
The 2026 Seoul International Garden Show runs under the theme "Seoul, Green Culture" and continues through Oct. 27. The K-Heritage Garden is open to the public for free throughout the exhibition period.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
Source: Korea Times News
