Dongyang Bookstore () is a historic bookstore in

Jongno District upright=1, Bosingak bell pavilion Jongno District () is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. It is the historic center of Seoul that contains Gyeongbokgung, the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty, and the Blue House, the for ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. It is one of the oldest active bookstores in Seoul, having been founded in 1953. It is a designated

Seoul Future Heritage Seoul Future Heritage () is a designation by the Seoul Metropolitan Government for entities in Seoul that are deemed worthy of preservation. Various things can be so designated, including buildings, restaurants, books, and foods. The designation h ...

. It was initially located in

Hyehwa-dong Hyehwa-dong is a ''Dong (administrative division), dong'' (neighborhood) of Jongno District, Seoul, South Korea. It is adjacent to the Seoul National University Hospital. Attractions * PMC Daehangno Jayu Theater - musical ''Polaroid'' were played ...

, before moving to its current location in 1954. Its founder was Lee Sun-gyeong (), the wife of painter

Chang Ucchin Chang Ucchin (, 26 November 1917 – 27 December 1990) was one of the most representative modern Korean artists. He was known for his oil paintings that depicted Korean sceneries, animals, and children in simple and naive painting styles. Earl ...

and daughter of Yi Pyong-do. She reportedly served as the breadwinner between her and her husband, through the business. In 1987, she handed off the business to her long-time employee Choi Ju-bo (). In 2004, Choi handed the business off to her daughter, So-yeong (). By 2019, the younger Choi was still the CEO. After the business was designated a Seoul Future Heritage in the 2010s, the

Seoul Metropolitan Government The Seoul Metropolitan Government () is a local government of Seoul, South Korea. The mayor is elected to a four-year term by the citizens of Seoul and is responsible for the administration of the city government. The Seoul Metropolitan Governmen ...

provided funds for its renovation. The store was reportedly previously a cramped one-floor business that was packed with bookshelves. After the renovation, bookshelves were removed to make room for readers, and they began work on creating a cafe space for customers. A second floor was added, with bookshelves of poetry. They kept the original faded facade of the restaurant, in order to show that it was a historic and aged place. The store has hosted author events with people such as

Han Kang Han Kang (; born 27 November 1970) is a South Korean writer. From 2007 to 2018, she taught creative writing at the Seoul Institute of the Arts. Han rose to international prominence for her novel ''The Vegetarian'', which became the first Kore ...

and Gu Byeong-mo.

References

{{Coord, 37.5854, 127.0005, display=title Seoul Future Heritages Bookstores of South Korea South Korean companies established in 1954

See also

References