Itaewon: “It’s a Small World”

A Korean drama based on a webtoon by Jo Kwangjin, Itaewon Class captures the bustling crowd and paletteful cultural beauty in the most realistic manner. As reflected in the drama, Itaewon (이태원) is an area populated with the most authentic restaurants, cafes, and bars from all over the world. It is not surprising that this place started to be called the “foreigner’s village” in the early 1970s. Today, the streets of Itaewon welcome people of different cultural backgrounds, genders, and races. There are a few places in Itaewon that are not common in other places in Seoul, such as gay bars, transgender bars (and many others which people in Korea still have a traditional take on), and sports bars which are uniquely more of U.S. culture and numerous other countries. A special fact about these cafes, bars, and restaurants is that not all of them, but many of them, are owned by foreigners, many of whom settled here years ago and speak very fluent Korean. In the drama, Kwon Nara narrates over slides of streets and people in Itaewon having the night of their lives the perfect description of this place: 

It is appropriate to call this little area in Seoul the perfect epitome of global melding that transcends people’s differences. As briefly mentioned, there is a long and rather reverent history in how Itaewon started to become the center of culture, entertainment, and settlements of foreigners dating back to the years of 1904 during the Japanese occupation when they set up a military base in Yongsan (Itaewon is part of Yongsan-gu) after they defeated Russia in the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905). 

Map of Itaewon area. Yongsan military base marked in blue rectangle.

Rewind to: Born from American Grounds within Korea

Itaewon: the area located on the north side of the Han River that crosses Seoul just right by the river. It started to be called Itaewon in the mid-Joseon Dynasty because of its regional characteristics of the growth of a lot of pears. The “I” (pronounced ee) part has the definition of pears in Chinese characters. This means that most parts of this area used to be just regular fields with a small village. 

After the Japanese built a military base around this area, restaurants and nightlife places started opening up targeting the Japanese military men. By the 1930s, Yongsan became a major residential area of Japanese people, making up 44% of the population.        

Map of Itaewon

It was when Korea became under U.S. management after the Korean War in the 1960s that Yongsan, Itaewon more specifically, started booming with western culture and lifestyle, building a little America within Korea. The U.S. military took over the emptied Japanese military base, and Koreans who lived here at that time worked mainly for U.S. military soldiers. Many Korean women earned wages by laundering U.S. soldiers’ uniforms, sewing name tags onto the uniforms, and more. Many women both in and outside Korea were forced into sex labor to provide for U.S. soldiers. Korean men rented their places out to U.S. soldiers who became able to travel and live outside the military camp in 1957. Some Korean men worked inside the military base to earn a living. Koreans who resided in Itaewon around Yongsan military base learned to live with foreigners who started to settle there as their homes.

The streets of Itaewon were mostly clubs and pubs with nightlife and entertainment beginning with the U.N. Club in 1957. In 1962, the opening of Seven Club made Itaewon known as the “streets of clubs for foreigners.” Clubs and bars in Itaewon were fast to import American music, arts, and culture. Itaewon became unique in the sense that it was a place where things were available that are not available anywhere else in the country; whether it was snacks, clothes, jewelry from the U.S., or even illegal drugs and sex, they were all available in Itaewon. At the time, small Mom-and-Pop stores in Itaewon sold canned foods like sausages which Korea did not have at the time. These small corner stores sold well during those times. But it was more than just access to another culture. What people found Itaewon attractive for was their access to things that were not available to them–some forbidden things that are below the surface in the darkness.  

Rewind to: 1970s Center of Cultural Commerce

In the 1970s, the U.S. military withdrew from Korea and many who lived inside or around the base camp moved and settled down near what is now known as Itaewon Station. Most of the movers were fashion merchants who used to work on U.S. military uniforms, as shoe-makers, or western suit-makers. The Itaewon Market and the entire Itaewon area transformed into an exotic space for commerce. What used to be a market selling regular foods like fish, meat, and fruits was now a new center of bonded clothes and knock-off handbags, watches, and clothes of western fashion. In the ‘70s and going on into the ‘80s, customers who came to shop in Itaewon were not just remaining U.S. military families, but also tourists from both in and outside Korea. Japanese tourists were especially interested in these knock-off items. By the late ‘80s, Itaewon became a fashion shopping mecca for tourists, especially as an area where most people spoke enough English to pull sales.   

Just Living On Life

Entering the 1990s and onto the Millennial era, multiculturalism and internationalism grew into a trend. Starting around the time of 1994, a new type of foreigners started settling in Itaewon. Most of them were immigrant workers who came to Korea to work. Their cultural and national backgrounds were much more diverse than before. There were people from the Middle East and Africa, many of whom later contributed to building an “African Alley” mainly from Nigeria. All of these people migrated from their countries hoping to earn some money to live. 

Today, many foreigners still live in these Itaewon streets working at restaurants, bars, fashion stores, and markets. For Koreans, Itaewon is now a place where they can enjoy a different vibe from other parts of Korea. Itaewon has the most authentic tasting foods from all over the world. Bars and clubs that are not like regular clubs are usually seen in Seoul. Sports bars which are very U.S., transgender bars, gay bars, Hawaiian-themed lounge bars, and even bars with vibes of a country in South East Asia. Koreans also don’t have a tradition of celebrating Halloween, but Itaewon on Halloween night is crazy. It’s packed with people dressed up in various costumes and makeup. Cafes, bars, and shops are all decorated with a Halloween interior and exterior.

The true beauty and magic of this place is the diverse crowds, both visitors and residents, enjoying their time here like there is no tomorrow. There is so much energy and joy. Just being part of that atmosphere, it feels like there is something powerful here that transcends language, any differences, any cultures or ethnicity—like all the hate and prejudices cease to exist.