A few steps outside of Exit 1 three guys in suits were standing around a folding table, handing out literature about a new apartment development to passersby. Behind them an old man sat smoking on some steps in a small plaza, in the middle of which was a bronze statue of Shin Ik-hee (신익희). Shin,…
The most important feature in the Cheonho neighborhood is also the one you’d be most likely to walk past without noticing. Just outside of Exit 10 is an earthen mound, about ten feet high, un-mowed and partly covered in a plant with tiny white blossoms. It looks as if it might be a covered landfill…
Dear readers, apologies for the glacial pace of new posts recently. I’m currently working on edits and re-writes for the English version of our book, which we hope to have released in the fall, and until that’s wrapped up the blog will be in something of a state of suspended animation. We appreciate your understanding. More…
If you’ve eaten in a restaurant today, odds are some of your meal came from Garak Market (가락시장). This is where many of Seoul’s restaurateurs come to restock their kitchens. Cheaper and fresher and bigger than just about anywhere else in the city, it’s the mother of all markets. Let’s start with the numbers. Korea’s…
The gates that gave their names to the Dongdaemun and Namdaemun neighborhoods still stand, and their presence puts the stamp of history on the areas around them. They’re constant reminders of the city’s Long Ago and chains that link the contemporary lives lived around them to the lives lived there hundreds of years ago. Seodaemun,…
Seoul Sub→urban 