The Jidangwon pavilion at the Korean Forest Garden on Mount Nam in central Seoul. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
Seoul is expanding its downtown green footprint with a massive new park on Mount Nam designed to bring classical Korean gardening aesthetics into the modern era. The 30,000-square-meter development, set to open to the public Saturday, utilizes contemporary engineering — including thermal-filtering glass pavilions and transparent observation decks — to reinterpret the nature-first philosophy of traditional landscape design.
City officials said Wednesday that they will officially open the Korea Forest Garden, a 30,000-square-meter sanctuary, within the Namsan Outdoor Botanical Garden. The site itself carries a narrative of urban reclamation: Once the site of residential housing, the land was razed and returned to nature in the 1990s, setting the stage for its latest transformation into a premier cultural park.
The new layout features 11 distinct zones inspired by Damyang County’s Soswaewon and Myeongokheon — Joseon Dynasty gardens built by scholars seeking refuge from court politics. Those historic sites represent the peak of traditional Korean landscape architecture, which prizes harmony with existing topography over artificial symmetry. Rather than building static historical replicas, however, the city applied modern engineering to channel their nature-first ethos in a way that resonates with contemporary life.
