SPACE November 2024 (No. 684)
Project Songhyeon-dong site
Location Songhyeon-dong 48-9, Seoul, Korea
Site area 37,117m2
Site opening 2022 – 2024
‘Lee Kun-Hee Museum (tentative name) International Design Competition’ year 2024
Competition site area 9,787m2
Competition building area 25,696m2
Competition organizer Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism
1910 Used as a residence for Joseon Industrial Bank staff
Post-liberation Used as accommodation for the U.S. Embassy
1997 Decision to relocate the U.S. Embassy residence
2000 Samsung Life Insurance purchased the site from the Ministry of National Defense for 140 billion KRW, marking its first privatisation. Development was delayed for 8 years due to regulations
2008 Korean Air purchases the site from Samsung Life Insurance for 290 billion KRW
Mar. 2010 – June 2012 Jongno-gu Office rejectes Korean Air’s request for approval to develop a seven-star Hanok hotel, citing the School Health Act
Aug. 2015 – Jan. 2017 Korean Air proposes a cultural convergence complex (K-Experience), later voluntarily withdraws the plan
Feb. 2019 Korean Air announces the sale of the Songhyeon-dong site
Mar. 31, 2021 Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG), Korean Air and Korea Land & Housing Coporation (LH) sign an agreement (selling the site to LH, then exchanging it with SMG-owned land)
Nov. 10, 2021 Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism selects Songhyeon-dong as the site for the Lee Kun-Hee Museum (tentative name) and sign an agreement with SMG
Dec. 22, 2021 A coalition of civil groups hold a press conference opposing the rushed construction of the Lee Kun-Hee Museum
Oct. 7, 2022 The Songhyeon-dong site is temporarily open to the public as Open Songhyeon Green Plaza for two years
May – Oct. 2023 Part of the 2023 Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism was held on the Songhyeon-dong site
Nov. 2023 The Rhee Syngman Memorial Foundation requests SMG’s mayor Oh Sehoon preserve part of the site for a memorial building
July 12, 2024 ‘Lee Kun-Hee Museum (tentative name) International Design Competition’ is...
