Survey and research of cities or modern times began in the field of folk
studies at the beginning of 1970s. However, there was no specific guideline as
to what urban folk history is and what its interests are.
Considering the scope of study and research of Seoul Museum of History, the
start point of Seoul s study and research of folk history is its limited
perspective toward the culture of Seoul and the historical development project
that is broader and more inclusive than any other projects.
Promoting itself as an urban history museum, Seoul Museum of History has
organized Urban History Team as a part of its Research Department to study
Seoul' s folk history. The first project was producing a documentary film called
IFThe Sound of Seoul Market.l , which recorded the characteristics of Seoul as
the capital of Korea and a nationwide commercial city. Then , there were
researches and documentary films on Seoul s vi1lage rituals. Documentary
films involved a study on the transmission of village rituals along the Han
River in relation to Seoul' s the Han River Renaissance Project.
These studies met a turning point in 2003 with the New Town Development.
A rescue study was urgently conducted on folk records of New Town area that
were selected for a great renovation with many old structures to be demolished
and populations to be displaced . The scale of projects varies , but each New
Town site was as large as a small town or city in population or scope of
development. The fo lk study of New Town , which began in 2007 , first
examined Bogwang-dong of Yongsan-gu , which was a part of Hannam New
Town. In 2008 , the records of civil lives and photographic resources were
gathered from Gangnam-gu and Seocho-gu areas that were largely redeveloped
through the 1960s and 1970s. In the late 2008 , literature studies , researches
on 1ife customs and histories. bui1ding measurements and drawings .
photographic resources. and documentary films were conducted in Gajaeu1 New
Town area of Namgajoa-dong and Bukgajoa-dong of Seodaemun-gu
The essentia1 meaning of fo1k records as the basic resources of study remains
unchanged. but their areas of use are greatly expanding. Under different
circumstances. fo1k records can work as critica1 influences on the succession of
fo1k customs or on its surrounding environment. Fo1k records can be referenced
or applied in various fie1ds of studies
This means that there must be more organized and thoughtfu1 p1ans when
writing fo1k records for the search for Seoul' s identity and a clearer goa1 for
the use and ro1e of Seoul' s fo1k studies amongst 1arge urban deve10pment
projects .