There are some neighborhoods in Seoul that have their own distinct character or spirit. Then there are neighborhoods like Chungjeongno that don’t feel quite like their own place but rather sponge up elements of the neighborhoods around them. West of the station, you quickly find yourself on the edge of Ahyeon’s large furniture market; to…
Given that my visit to Sindap coincided with Seollal, coming out of the station’s one exit reminded me a bit of the scene in Westerns when the protagonist steps out of the saloon onto an empty street, the only things a’stirrin’ bein’ tumbleweeds an’ dust. And, OK, my imagination is getting away with me and…
Hidden among the soaring glass and steel towers of southeastern Seoul is a wormhole, a portal to a land that physically exists within the Songpa-gu dimensions of time and space but which could seemingly secede and declare a sovereign one block corporation-state at will. Behold, ladies and gentlemen, the People’s Republic of Lotte. You don’t…
It should be obvious that in a city the size of Seoul there will always be a place that catches you unawares, that opens like a fold of paper in Exquisite Corpse, revealing something at once recognizable and yet utterly, sometimes bewilderingly unexpected. It should be obvious, what with the enormity of Seoul’s population and…
Put on your varsity jacket and turn on your Vampire Weekend, we’re going back to school. Quite obviously, Hanyang University Station serves the campus of Hanyang University (한양대학교). Founded in 1939 as the Dong-A Engineering Institute, Hanyang is one of Korea’s top schools and home to its most prestigious engineering program. Exit 1 will drop…
Seoul Sub→urban 