The Kaesong Folk Hotel is a tourist hotel located in

Kaesong Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close t ...

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

, which opened in 1989. Housed in 19 traditional

hanok A ''hanok'' () is a traditional Korean house. ''Hanok'' were first designed and built in the 14th century during the Joseon dynasty. Korean architecture considers the positioning of the house in relation to its surroundings, with thought give ...

-style courtyard houses, many of which date to the

Joseon dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

and retain their original furnishings. The complex has 50 rooms, a traditional restaurant and a souvenir shop. The houses themselves are located on both sides of the stream that runs through Kaesong, with some located at the foot of Mt. Janam. The hotel's accommodations are all traditionally Korean; guests sleep on the floor on padded mats, and all houses are equipped with the traditional

Ondol Ondol (; , Hangul: 온돌, 溫堗, ) or gudeul (Hangul: 구들, ) in Korean traditional architecture, is underfloor heating that uses direct heat transfer from wood smoke to heat the underside of a thick masonry floor. In modern usage it refers ...

heating system. Power outages are common at the hotel.

History

Kaesong Folk Hotel from inside the complex

The buildings were constructed at the time of the

Ri Dynasty The House of Yi, also called the Yi dynasty (also transcribed as the Lee dynasty), was the royal family of the Joseon, Joseon dynasty and later the imperial family of the Korean Empire, descended from the Joseon founder Taejo of Joseon, Yi Seong-g ...

History

See also

References

Further reading