Jeonju Hanok Houses Utilized for Exports, Tourism, and Experience-Oriented Content

Jeonju Hanok Industrial Center Seeks Global Expansion of K-House Through Consultations and Marketing Activities

Jeonju hanok houses are moving beyond mere preservation as cultural heritage and are being utilized for overseas exports and as tourism and experience-oriented content, opening new possibilities for industrial growth.

On September 27, Jeonju City announced that it is pursuing the modernization and popularization of hanok by utilizing the Jeonju Hanok Industrial Center, which opened in October of last year in the Jeonju Hanok Village, as a hub for hanok-related consultations, overseas marketing, exhibitions, and experiential programs.

Hanjaek experience event for the Mozambican agricultural delegation held this year at Jeonju Hanok Industry Center. Provided by Jeonju City

Since its opening, the Jeonju Hanok Industrial Center has provided not only general consultations on hanok construction and maintenance but also hosted consultations and marketing initiatives for overseas hanok projects. As a result, inquiries regarding hanok construction from both institutional and private sectors have arrived from countries such as Russia, China, the United States, Australia, and Canada.

The Mozambique agricultural training group that visited the Jeonju Hanok Industrial Center expressed interest in the mortise-and-tenon joint technique unique to hanok construction. The head of the Mozambique delegation paid particular attention to the method of assembling buildings without nails and conveyed a desire to apply construction techniques using earth and wood, as well as the Korean floor heating system (ondol), in their country.

The Hanok Industrial Center is currently expanding content aimed at making hanok more accessible to citizens and tourists. This includes a permanent exhibition of hanok models, construction tools, and wooden structural members, an exhibition on award-winning hanok works from the 2026 National Heritage Craftsmen’s Exhibition, and a display of traditional hanok production tools.

Since its opening in October of last year, the Jeonju Hanok Industrial Center has recorded approximately 19,000 visitors to date.

In January, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, along with members of the press, visited to observe on-site hanok construction policy in action. In February, students and professors from the National University of Malaysia (UKM) visited to study cases of cultural heritage preservation in Korean traditional villages. Exchange workshops on the topic of hanok for Korean and Japanese university students from Jeonbuk National University and Chubu University were held, as well as hanok experience and special lectures for the Mozambique agricultural training group.

Jeonju City plans to further expand the hanok industry by linking the Hanok Industrial Center with other hanok-related cultural facilities and content in Jeonju, and by continuing overseas consultation and marketing efforts, so that hanok becomes more than a cultural asset and takes root as an industrial sector.

A Jeonju City official stated, "Hanok houses are assets that encapsulate our unique culture, technology, and design," and added, "Based at the Hanok Industrial Center, we will continue to develop new hanok content and broaden the foundation of the hanok cultural industry through domestic and overseas marketing."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.