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청와대
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靑瓦臺
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Cheong-wa-dae
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Ch'ŏng-wa-dae
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(or the '''Blue House''') is the executive office and official residence of the
South Korean head of state, the
President of the
Republic Of Korea . Both the English and Korean names refer to the building's blue-green roof. The Korean name has the literal meaning "house of the blue roof tiles." Cheong Wa Dae is in fact a complex of buildings, built largely in the traditional Korean style with some modern elements.
At present, Cheong Wa Dae consists of the main office building, the official Presidential residence, Yeongbin-gwan (영빈관) or the guest house, the Chunchugwan (춘추관) press hall, and the secretariat buildings. The entire complex covers 76,685
Pyeong (about 250,000
M&2 ).
The location of Cheong Wa Dae was the site of a royal villa in what was then
Hanyang , the southern capital of the
Goryeo kingdom (AD 918-1392). It was built by
King Sukjong (r. AD 1095-1105) in
1104 . Goryeo's principal capital was at
Kaesŏng , and it also maintained a western capital at
Pyongyang and an eastern capital at
Gyeongju .
After the
Joseon kingdom (
1392 -
1910 ) moved its capital to Hanyang,
Gyeongbok Palace was built in
1395 , the fourth year of the reign of
King Taejo (r.
1392 -
1398 ) as the main palace, and the royal villa lot became the back garden of the palace. It was used as the site for
Civil Service examinations and
Military training.
Following
Japan 's forced annexation of Korea in
1910 , the Japanese colonialists used the Gyeongbokgung grounds for the government-general building. In
1939 , Japan built an official residence/office for the governor-general on the site of Cheong Wa Dae.
With the establishment of the Republic of Korea in
1948 , President
Syngman Rhee called the building "Gyeongmudae" (경무대), which was the name of one of the few old buildings there. He used it as his office and residence. President
Yun Bo-seon changed the name to "Cheong Wa Dae" after he was inaugurated in 1960.
Presidents
Park Chung-hee ,
Choi Kyu-ha and
Chun Doo-hwan used it both as their office and official residence. While President
Roh Tae-woo was in office, a new office building, official residence, and press center, called Chunchugwan, were built. The main office building was opened in April
1991 .
In
1993 , after President
Kim Young-sam 's civilian administration was launched, the Japanese governor-general's residence in the Cheong Wa Dae compound was dismantled to remove a major symbol of the Japanese colonial occupation.
.
To the north of Cheong Wa Dae is the mountain
Bugaksan , flanked by two
Mountain s, Naksan, symbolizing the Blue
Dragon , on the left and Inwangsan, symbolizing the White
Tiger , on the right. To the south is
Namsan , the protective mountain of the capital. In front flow the
Cheonggyecheon stream and
Han River .
