[Interview] Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu: "The Donggyo-dong Residence Should Be Preserved by the State in Its Original Form as a Heritage"

Mapo-gu Holding Kim Dae-jung Residence, Choi Kyu-ha House, Park Chung-hee Memorial Hall... A Symbolic Area of Harmony
Mapo-gu Gains Momentum for Donggyo-dong Residence Cultural Heritage Registration through 'Residence Preservation Challenge,' 'Kim Dae-jung Road,' and 'Residence Preservation Promotion Committee' Initiatives

“The Donggyo-dong residence is a cultural asset symbolizing the ideals of peace and democratization, and it holds precious value. Evaluating it through a political lens is not the role of a local government head.”

This was stated by Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, at the naming ceremony of ‘Kim Dae-jung-gil’ held at the Kim Dae-jung Peace Park on the 20th of last month. It was his response to why, as a mayor affiliated with the People Power Party, he is promoting projects related to President Kim Dae-jung.

Mapo-gu renovated the road from 1, Sinchon-ro 6-gil to 31-2, Sinchon-ro 2-an-gil, near the alley where Kim Dae-jung’s residence is located, in a sky blue color symbolizing peace, and inscribed the name ‘Kim Dae-jung-gil’ in the actual handwriting of former President Kim. The 234-meter Kim Dae-jung-gil features five honorary street nameplates along with five information boards detailing the location and achievements of the Kim Dae-jung Library and residence.

Mayor Park explained the background of the project, saying, “People vaguely know that President Kim Dae-jung’s residence is in Donggyo-dong, but few know exactly where it is. We created Kim Dae-jung-gil to widely inform citizens visiting Mapo-gu about this historic site.”

In fact, a local resident, Kim Dong-hyun (45), who was passing by the site, said, “I pass through this area every day, but today is the first time I learned that the Donggyo-dong residence exists here. If a memorial hall is established in the future, I definitely want to visit.”

The late President Kim Dae-jung’s residence, located at 178-1 Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu, was the home where Kim Dae-jung and his wife lived for nearly 50 years since 1961, sharing the period of his democratization struggle. However, despite the late Lee Hee-ho’s wishes, it was sold to a private business owner last July, sparking significant controversy. In response, the Kim Dae-jung Foundation formed a special committee for the preservation of the residence and proposed purchasing it from the buyer, but faced great difficulty in raising the purchase price, which reached 10 billion KRW.

In this situation, Mayor Park Gang-su of Mapo-gu took action faster than anyone else. On October 21, he personally visited the National Heritage Agency in Daejeon to urge the temporary designation of the residence as a national registered cultural heritage and raised public interest and consensus about the Donggyo-dong residence through the ‘Save the Residence Challenge.’

Mayor Park’s efforts did not stop there. He met several times with the residence owner to emphasize the necessity of cultural heritage registration and obtained the owner’s consent for registration on October 30. With all the required materials prepared for national registered cultural heritage registration, Mapo-gu officially submitted the application to the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Cultural Heritage Preservation Division on November 12.

Furthermore, on December 3, Mapo-gu organized the ‘Committee for the Preservation of the Late President Kim Dae-jung’s Donggyo-dong Residence’ and held its first meeting. Key members of the committee include ▲ Kwon No-gap, Chairman of the Kim Dae-jung Foundation (Advisor), ▲ Moon Hee-sang, Vice Chairman (Advisor), ▲ Kim Jong-dae, representative of the Regeneration Movement and a relative of the late President Kim Dae-jung, ▲ Bae Ki-seon, Secretary General of the Foundation, ▲ Han Il-yong, Chairman of the Mapo Talent Development Scholarship Foundation, as well as experts such as ▲ Professor Kim Jong-seok of Kookmin University and ▲ Lawyer Hwang Chi-o.

The Committee for the Preservation of the Donggyo-dong Residence plans to discuss future purchase plans, cooperation for preservation, and management methods, working together to ensure that the Donggyo-dong residence is registered as a cultural heritage site in its original form as soon as possible.

Mayor Park Gang-su of Mapo-gu said, “The Donggyo-dong residence is a heritage that the state must preserve in its original form, and Mapo-gu’s efforts truly demonstrate the representative ideals of peace and harmony of the late President Kim Dae-jung through action.” He added, “With only the Seoul city’s review process remaining, we hope for a swift progress, and Mapo-gu will continue to provide all administrative support necessary for the cultural heritage registration of the Donggyo-dong residence.”