After North Korean commandos reached its slopes on January 21, 1968, 북악산(Bugaksan) — the mountain directly behind 청와대(Cheong Wa Dae), the presidential compound — became a military zone and stayed closed to the public for nearly forty years. Yes, you can hike it now: the city-wall path reopened in 2007, the north side in November 2020, and the south side in April 2022.
Today you can walk across Bugaksan in an afternoon, and the reasons it was closed are still visible along the trail. It's rated Level 3 of 5 in Mountain Seoul, and its summit, 백악마루(Baegakmaru), is 342 meters high.
Why was Bugaksan closed?
On January 21, 1968, a unit of North Korean commandos crossed the border and made its way to the slopes of Bugaksan, aiming for Cheong Wa Dae just below. They were stopped near 창의문(Changuimun), one of the small gates in the old city wall, and the police chief 최규식(Choi Gyu-sik) was killed in the fighting; a memorial to him stands near the gate. After what Koreans call the 1·21 사태(January 21 Incident), the mountain became a military zone.
Walk it today and you'll still pass old guard posts, and near 청운대(Cheongundae) a pine tree still carries the bullet scars from that night.
When did Bugaksan reopen?
The mountain came back to the public slowly, in three stages.
| When | What reopened |
|---|---|
| 2007 | The path along the city wall |
| November 2020 | The north side |
| April 2022 | The south side — fifty-four years after the mountain was closed |
One result is that you can now walk a continuous route from 안산(Ansan) over 인왕산(Inwangsan) and across Bugaksan down to 삼청동(Samcheong-dong). The book notes that the presidential office moved back to Cheong Wa Dae at the end of 2025 and the trails have stayed open.
How to get there: start from Samcheong-dong
The easiest way to fold Bugaksan into a day is to start from Samcheong-dong. From 삼청공원(Samcheong Park) at the top of the neighborhood, the trail climbs to Cheongundae and then to the summit.
| Starting side | How to get there | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Samcheong-dong (recommended) | Take Line 3 to 안국역(Anguk Station) and walk up through the neighborhood to Samcheong Park — about 20 minutes | The gentler way up. |
| Changuimun | Take a bus from 경복궁역(Gyeongbokgung Station) to the Jahamun Pass stop by the Yun Dong-ju Literary Museum | A long, steep staircase. |
Information centers along the trail (including Samcheong, Malbawi, Sukjeongmun, and Changuimun) are staffed during the day.
What you'll see on the way
From the summit you look straight down on 경복궁(Gyeongbokgung Palace) and across to Namsan — if Level 3 sounds like more than you want, Namsan is the easiest mountain in the book. Coming down, follow the wall east to 숙정문(Sukjeongmun), the old wall's northern main gate (the story of why it was kept shut is in the book), and back into Samcheong-dong.
What to do afterward
Samcheong-dong is one of the most pleasant neighborhoods in central Seoul: hanok houses, small galleries, and cafes, with the 국립현대미술관 서울(National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul) just down the road. Bugaksan is one of four city mountains in the book — see all of them, with heights and difficulty levels, on the map of Seoul's 8 mountains.