Abandoned Neighborhood, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul (Part 1)

Scroll down to content

This neighborhood in Dongdaemun-gu of Seoul is an area I am currently keeping my eyes on. Right now, this is the neighborhood that shall not be named, I’ll be more forthcoming once this place has bitten the dust. Its final destruction is still a year or so away. Demo crews continue to put up tarps and pile up former residents’ stuff.  The area is mostly residential but has a fair amount of commercial spaces as well.  I have visited three times and, despite the coronavirus, plan on exploring as many times as possible until its gone. The types of houses vary from small studio apartment complexes to traditional hanoks. Tons of cats live here, and the neighbors or other diligent folks have set up feeding stations throughout. Jon, it’s still a good idea to bring some canned food, neighborhood cats rely on dry food at this point.

I’ll start with my first visit on December 15th. I caught wind of this evicted neighborhood through Instagram and planned to scout and explore lightly, just to get the lay of the land.

IMG_2273
This was the first street I turned down from the main path.

 

IMG_2285
Love the pink and white tiles!
IMG_2286
One of several hanoks that caught my eye. This had a piece of rope with a highly complicated knot. With neighbors still walking around, this was a no go…for now.
IMG_2291
Here is another, once used as a traveler’s lodge. Notice the lock, it’s no go.

 

IMG_2277
Some beautiful hanoks in this part of the neighborhood as well.
IMG_2278
Enter a caption

IMG_2284

IMG_2281
The friendship apartments.

 

000005
The friendship apartments are now a garbage bin.

000013

000016
A former shaman’s residence.

On January 12th, I returned to make more effort to get into any of the buildings, especially the hanoks I saw on my first visit. I also found an abandoned tattoo studio! IMG_2389IMG_2390

IMG_2391
I love the old Fujifilm Logo on Min’s Video.
IMG_2392
Makeshift bujeok.
IMG_2388
Success! I made it into the pink and white tiled hanok. Not much to see except the beautiful wood details.

013100530001013100500010

It was quite a fruitful exploration. I discovered another hanok I hadn’t see the first time and got in without any trouble. 013100500032013100500031013100500028

013100500021
Double Happiness coated windows.

013100500024013100500023013100500025013100500029The most recent visit came on January 26th with my wife. It was light on infiltration and more on walking paths I had never walked before. We did get into the traveler’s lodge hanok that had previously been padlocked. Someone searching for scrap to sell must have broken it.013100500015

020100430015200201
Goodbye, Miss A! We hardly knew ye!
IMG_2523
Pressure point chart for the ear.

020100430003200201

020100430004200201
The friendship apartments from another angle.

Here is the traveler’s lodge. It was composed of ten tiny rooms. It had been picked clean. We had our shit startled by the bell hanging on the door.013100500014020100430005200201020100430014200201

 

020100430011200201
Horseshoe, a good luck Irish charm paired with a good luck charm from Asia.

 

020100420029200201
Now, for some artsy double exposures.
020100420030200201
And another one.

 

There is one house I am biding my time to get into. It’s covered in barbed wire, so scaling the wall is not an option. With time and patience, I know the door will eventually be knocked down. I want to get a better look at the tile work.

 

013100500007
The blue tiles form the hanja character 福 (bok) for luck.

This neighborhood is prime for exploring. I’ll keep you updated in a future post.

 

 

 

6 Replies to “Abandoned Neighborhood, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul (Part 1)”

  1. I am surprised there are areas like that at all. I used to live near there I think, back in 2005. I am looking forward to seeing more photos.

Leave a Reply

%d bloggers like this: