Itaewon: Koreans embrace Seoul’s ‘exotic’ district

[unhappycamper]

Two South Korean girls hang out in Itaewon’s entertainment district. Itaewon is gentrifying rapidly and will change even more dramatically when the United States closes Yongsan Garrison, headquarters to the U.S. military in South Korea and home to about 20,000 troops, civilian workers and their families.


Itaewon: Koreans embrace Seoul’s ‘exotic’ district
By Ashley Rowland and Hwang Hae-rym, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, January 4, 2009

SEOUL — Kuk Moon-kyun chose an unlikely home for her boutique flower shop — a central Seoul neighborhood famed as a hangout for American soldiers who were more likely to spend their money on beer and prostitutes than expensive flower arrangements.

Before she opened her shop, Kuk had been to Itaewon only once, to scout an affordable spot for her new business.

Growing up in Seoul’s ritzy Gangnam district, she had avoided Itaewon because of its reputation. She had heard that the American soldiers stationed nearby at Yongsan Garrison sometimes got in trouble with the police. But rent in Gangnam was too expensive, the equivalent of $2,000 to $3,000 dollars per month. A space the same size costs half as much in Itaewon.

Today, the 31-year-old said her store, which sells chic flower arrangements that average about $40, is thriving. She describes Itaewon as "exotic," and said half of her customers are expatriates — no surprise in an area that houses most of Seoul’s foreign population.

What is surprising, she said, is that the other half of her customers are Korean. Until recently, few Seoul residents had visited this area known for its bars, brothels and U.S. soldiers. Media reports of soldiers beating taxi drivers, sexually assaulting women and fighting in the bars and on the streets kept the Koreans away.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=59771