Jongno 3-ga: The Insider’s Guide to the World’s Coolest Neighborhood

Time Out named Jongno 3-ga the world’s coolest neighborhood. But the neighborhood is much more than the photogenic hanok cafés of Ikseon-dong.

Joe McPherson takes you through the many layers of Jongno 3-ga, including Pimatgol, postwar nightlife, Seoul’s former cinema district, its queer sanctuary, oyster bossam, pojangmacha tents, galmaegisal alleys and the musical world around Nagwon Arcade.

Learn how real-estate developer and independence activist Jeong Se-gwon created Ikseon-dong, why the neighborhood was nearly demolished and how an economic crisis helped preserve it.

This is Jongno 3-ga beyond the social-media version: complicated, atmospheric and unmistakably Seoul.

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