[IIJ = Gyeongsangbuk-do Reporter Euidong Yeo, Sungsil Iim] UNESCO confirmed the registration of the Hahoe and Yangdong Village as World Heritage at UNESCO World Heritage Committee, held at Brasilia, Brazil, in July 2010, which Hahoe and Yangdong Village’s various folk culture that passed down from the villagers held the value for people in global world to maintain beyond Korea.


The Hahoe and Yangdong Village established in 14th and 15th century are the typical and historic village of the clan society. The position and location of the villages are surrounded by densely forested mountains, river and farmlands in a clear sight, which reflects thoroughly the Confucian Yangban culture of the early Joseon Dynasty. Usually old villages are located in which can be the place for deriving material and spiritual nourishments from the surroundings. In villages, there are Head Houses and wooden private houses which Yangban resided in, Jungja and Jungsa, Seowon and temples, and mud-built house and thatched house where the plain people usually lived.

▲UNESCO & HERITAGE Historic Villages of Korea : Hahoe and Yangdong ⓒIIJ

The Hahoe and Yangdong Villages attract many tourists due to the various kinds programs about ritual ceremony, folk, education, and culture. These became the place for people to experience the ancestor’s spirit and have educational benefit with memorable moments. You can check the schedule and programs through the website.


The Hahoe and Yangdong Village have conserved by the Cultural Properties Protection Law since 1984. In the cultural property preserve area of the Hahoe Village, there are some neutral zone. In case, the preserve area might extend. In the cultural property preserve area of the Yangdong Village, it consists of the outskirts of the preserve area except rural villages, some neutral zones, and Dongang Seowon, and some neutral zone except Dokrakdong. Buildings, houses, and even forests in the Village are preserved by the law. Also, 6 houses of the total 124 houses in the Hahoe Village and 2 houses of the total 149 houses in the Yangdong Village were designated and preserved as the Treasure of Korea.

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