Cheongnamdae

Character

The heliport is now public open ground, presidential walking routes are visitor trails, and the main villa is an exhibit. When Cheongnamdae opened in 2003, the decisive change was access: visitors inherited a lakeside compound already organized for presidents to work, rest and move in privacy

The scale still reflects that original use. Chungcheongbuk-do lists 53 buildings across a site of more than 1.8 million square meters, with the main residence, Ogakjeong pavilion, former golf ground and other presidential facilities separated by woodland and lakeshore. The distances make the former security geography physically legible: this was a compound, not a single house

The experience

The main villa is the clearest starting point. Its reception, meeting and dining rooms show the official side of a presidential retreat, while upstairs private spaces make the building read more like a working residence than a ceremonial museum. Outside, the visit quickly expands beyond architecture

Cheongnamdae now has about 14 kilometers of walking routes, several named after presidents who used the retreat. Paths connect woods, lake views, gardens and former executive facilities rather than following one mandatory circuit. A short visit can stay around the villa and nearby grounds; a longer one can spend hours on the trails without repeating the same spaces

Daecheong Lake shapes nearly every longer walk. The reservoir was created after completion of Daecheong Dam in 1980, only a few years before Cheongnamdae itself was built. The result is a political-history site whose privacy once depended partly on water, forest and distance, and whose public appeal now depends on those same physical conditions

History

Construction began in June 1983 and the retreat was completed on December 27 that year. It was initially called Yeongchunjae and renamed Cheongnamdae in 1986. Five presidents used the compound before it became public: Chun Doo-hwan, Roh Tae-woo, Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun. Provincial records count 88 visits totaling 366 nights and 471 days

For two decades, ordinary access was tightly restricted. Roh Moo-hyun transferred Cheongnamdae to Chungcheongbuk-do and opened it to the public on April 18, 2003, fulfilling a campaign pledge to return the retreat to public use. The province then added museums, memorial spaces and visitor facilities while retaining the core villa and landscape

Public use has since become the dominant life of the site. Cheongnamdae passed 10 million cumulative visitors in 2017 and 14 million in 2023; the provincial site recorded 15.75 million by the end of 2025. The numbers show how completely a formerly closed compound has become a regional public destination without losing the spatial evidence of why it was once closed

Before you go

Treat Cheongnamdae as a large outdoor site rather than a single historic house. The villa and nearby presidential facilities can form a compact visit, but the longer walking paths require more time and comfortable shoes. The lake setting also means a meaningful share of the experience is outdoors