Seoul

Chong Wa Dae (Blue House)

Cheongwadae is the executive office and official residence of the President of the Republic of Korea, located in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Cheongwadae consists of the main office building and its annexes. The main office building includes Presidential Office, audience room, conference room, and official Presidential residence. The annex accommodates the office of the Presidential secretariat, the office of Presidential security, Chunchugwan (press center) and Yeongbingwan (reception hall). Also, there are wide gardens, ponds, and rear gardens connected with Bukak-san in the Cheongwadae compound. The main building has a hipped-and-gabled roof, which is the most refined and beautiful style among Korean architecture, covered with Korean style blue tiles from which "Cheongwadae" takes its name. Approximately 150,000 tiles compose the roof of Cheongwadae. Each was baked individually, which makes them strong enough to be used for over one hundred years.
From an historical viewpoint, the location of Cheongwadae was the site of a royal villa in the southern capital of the Goryeo Dynasty. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), Gyeongbuk-gung (Palace) was built as the main palace, and the royal villa lot became the back garden of the palace. Following Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910, the Governor-General of Korea used the Gyeongbuk Palace grounds for the government-general building. Japan built an official residence/office for the Governor-General on the site of current main building of Cheongwadae. After Korea's independence, the building was used as an official residence for the Military Governor-General under the U. S. Military Government. Later, with the establishment of the Republic of Korea in August 1948, it was used as the Presidential residence and called "Gyeongmudae." After the April 19th Revolution in 1960, the Democratic Party occupied power and President Yun Bo-seon changed the name to "Cheongwadae." In 1990, Chunchukwan, which is the press center and official Presidential residence, were newly constructed.

Deoksugune palace

Deoksugung Palace is dotted with commanding stuctures: Daehanmun, the main gate; Junghwajeon, the throne hall and audience hall; and Seokjojeon, the only Western-style building in a korean palace. Located in the west wing of Seokjojeon in Deoksugung Palace, which was built in 1938 as the first exhibition room for modern art objects in Korea, Deoksugung Palace Art Museum is a branch of the National Museum of Contemporary Art, specializing in exhibits of Korean contemporary art objects.

Chongdong Theater

It was Korea's first repertory theater. It Presents the "Korean traditional Performing Arts Series" at 20:00 every day except Monday (16:00, Oct.-Mar.). Main programs include the drum dance, pansori (traditional narrative solo song), sanjo hapju (an ensemble of Korean instruments), samullori (percussion quartet), the sword dance and fan dance. Foreign tourists are given the chance to take pictures with performers wearing traditional Korean dress. English and japanese subtitles are provided to help foreigners better understand the performances.

Rodin Gallery

The Rodin Gallery serves as the world's 8th and Asia's 2nd gallery dedicated solely to the display of Auste Rodin's works. It is located on the ground floor of Samsung Plaza

Nanta Theater

The Nanta Theater is exclusively for the performance of Cookin'. This wild and funny percussion performance has won international awards and acclaim. Cookin' is performed using kitchen instruments and utensils, pots, pan, garbage cans, broomstick, and some especially exciting vegetable chopping on blocks with sharp kitchen knives.