Wonju is located in central midland with abundant sandy loam soil and sunlight, which provides excellent environment for paper mulberry to grow. Historically, Beopcheon Temple and Geodon Temple in Buron-myeon that still preserves archaeological sites to these days and Heungbeop Temple of Jijeong-myeon used to be a mass-producing center as well as consuming sector of hanji.
On top of that, Gangwon Gamyeong(local administrative office) of the Joseon dynasty was in Wonju, Hanji village and printing street were naturally formed near Gangwon Gamyeong to supply papers to administrative office and organization at that time.

In the late 1990s, a Wonju citizen started to have an interest in a declining culture of traditional hanji production. In 1999, with Wonju citizen's effort and dedication, the 'Wonju Hanji Festival,' the result of civic movement, was firstly held and is continued. After that, the 'Hanji developing Institute' was found in 2001 to promote hanji culture, both domestically and globally. Hanji developing Institute is purely a private organization and has been working hard to restore traditional hanji culture and develop new hanji culture.
With the help of people and the government, a hanji art culture platform called 'Wonju hanji theme park' was established in September 2010. Since 2011, under the consignment of the Hanji developing institute, the theme park has been the principal place for the hanji related art and culture education, cultural exchange, and 'Wonju Hanji Festival.' This has allowed citizen-friendly hanji to grow as a cultural art. Moreover, in 2019, hanji master Jang Eung Yeol was designated as the Gandwondo's 32nd Intangible cultural asset.