Hongdae Street : a distinctive commercial district around the Hongik University Station


Hongik University, a large commercial district located around the Hongik University Station. Hongdae on Hongdae Street is short for Hongik University, which often refers to Seogyo-dong, Sangsu-dong, or the local indie scene as "Hongdae Street," which is maintained by a distinctive commercial district after the Hongik University Station opened. In reality, of course, many universities call it Hongdae, just as the abbreviation for the names of universities such as Konkuk University and Ewha Womans University is often used as the name of the downtown area.

The famous university street in Seoul is located near Sinchon or Hyehwa Station in the neighborhood, Daehangno, Sungshin Women’s University’s commercial district, and a large street east of Seoul, but Hongdae Street is one of the most popular places in Seoul, surpassing all of them. Now, the Hongik University area has become so large that it is a bit difficult to name a commercial district under a university name, but there are three large and beautiful malls around the Hongik University Station.

Due to the nature of Hongdae, there are many people who busk on the street. South Korea's hipster culture has developed unknowingly in the region as a medium, with such features somewhat diluted after the controversy over commercialization and gentrification. Some hipsters, who protested the commercialization, were pushed out of the same central business district outside Sangsu-dong or Donggyo, or moved to make Munrae-dong and Hannam-dong a new hub.



Under the administration, the area belongs to Mapo-gu, Mapo-gu, Seoul, and the area around Donggyo-dong, Seogyo-dong, Hapjeong-dong and Sangsu-dong, Mapo-gu. Since all of them belong to Mapo-gu, Hongik University's downtown area is effectively part of Mapo-gu's downtown price, and it also serves as a central factor in Mapo-gu's finances.

The boundary between Sinchon and Hongdae, which are close downtown within 20 minutes of walking, ranges from three streets in Donggyo-dong to three streets in Changcheon-dong, and the surrounding areas of Sinchon Station on the Gyeongui Central Line and Yonsei University are divided administratively. Rather, Hongik University and Ewha Womans University may be included in the case of large-scale capture of Shinchon. As a matter of fact, the two commercial districts of Hongdae and Sinchon are very close to each other on the street, allowing them to travel within 2 to 30 minutes on foot, and in some cases, they are bound together as Hongdae-Shinchon.

In other words, Sinchon (which is commonly used as Sinchon-gu) in a broad sense is Hongdae, Shinchon and Lee Dae-dae. Sinchon-area universities are often cited as Yonsei University, Sogang University, Ewha Womans University, and Hongdae, where they interact with each other in real terms, including the use of libraries. Sinchon, in a narrower sense, is Sinchon+Daedae except Hongdae, and if divided into smaller parts, it becomes Hongdae/Shinchon/DaeDaeDae


There are several specific load points. In addition to the subway stations Hongik University Station, Hapjeong Station and Sangsu Station, Hongmungwan is the main spot, and the main venues for the appointment are KT&G Sangsang Madang, Hongdae Playground, Far East Broadcasting, Samjin Pharmaceutical and Sanwoolim Theater. It is easier to remember if you ever meet a person in Hongdae.

On Fridays and Saturdays, getting out of the Hongik University entrance station at least before 5 p.m. is a comfortable way for the body and mind. After 6 p.m., you can see people rushing out of exit 9 at the entrance to Hongik University, just like Hydra is coming out. No, at any time, the floating population is basically huge.

Since the stairs leading up to Exit 9 are high and far, if accidentally swept away by the crowd, it can fly as if it were annoying and there are scuffles and assaults everywhere. Also, there are a lot of ugly crimes such as pickpockets and sexual harassment. It's just that criminals are everywhere and they're In this case, let's use Exit 8 on the other side of the station. I may go back a little bit (about 100 meters) from the ground, but I feel comfortable. Or enter the LG Palace next to exit No. 9 and go outside.

Likewise, on the way home from work every day or on weekends, Wawusan-gil through the Sanwoolim Theater, which connects Shinchon-Hongdae. If you want to move between Hongdae and Sinchon on a weekend evening, you'd rather walk. 273 7011 screwed up.

If you came to the Hongik University Station on the Gyeongui Central Line or the airport railroad from Goyang, Paju, and Incheon, you'd better go out to exit No. 7, the exit of the Airport Railroad, and travel there. The exit itself is also wider than the exit No. 9 and the location itself is separated from the exit on Line 2, so passengers on Line No. 2 rarely walk to the exit of the airport's railroad, allowing them to move pleasantly beyond comparison with Exit 9.

Due to the rapid replacement of trends and commercialization, the area around Hongdae is very short-lived. Some shops disappear within six months at the most, and many stores, which are never going to disappear, should be carefully decided when taking the appointment. The main gate of Hongik University (Hong Moon Kwan)It is good to set up a place like this or a big building as an appointment.

Buses and subways often come from Incheon, Bucheon, Goyang, Gimpo, and Paju. Many people come from Guro-gu, Geumcheon-gu, Eunpyeong-gu and Gangseo-gu in Seoul. If public transportation is cut off after 1 a.m., many taxis to the area are gathered.



For indie music, it is still a sacred place. Countless indie musicians who play various genres of music are appearing and disappearing. There are so many concert halls, and on the last Friday of each month there was an event called Club Day, in which these clubs were united. However, it ended in 2011 due to profitability issues, but has been revived at the end of 2015.

But it seems like there are still some small-scale joint performances. The dance clubs are usually excluded and a few venues are held together. Since February 2015, Live Club Day, which inherited the existing Club Day, has been held on the last Friday of every month. The participating live clubs are live clubs belonging to the Live Club Cooperative, including Sangsang Madang, V-Hall, Prism Hall, Freibird 2-Big Bird, ClubFF, Club Ta, Googos2, Evans Lounge and Beloju. If you're curious about Korean indie music and want to listen to it, and you don't know anything, you can go to the street in front of Hongdae on the last Friday of every month.

While there may be tastes that may or may not be better or worse than songs by popular singers, they are often easily accessible at relatively low cost. If you're interested in indie bands, I recommend watching live performances. If you don't feel it, you don't know. Even if the team is not familiar with the team, chances are slim that it will lose money if it matches the genre it is interested in. There are many people who go to the concert because they like the atmosphere where the bands are performing hard, even if not because of their taste in music.

As mentioned above, there are many small concert halls around here, so it is common for amateurs and underground musicians. The concept of managing is not enough, so when you wait at the back door  after the performance, you can meet and talk to each other in person or get autographs, etc., which is also attractive. Of course, it is rude to talk long since you will be tired after the performance. Sometimes I come out to the front door to get some fresh air to smoke before the show begins, but this is the time. For performances held at traditional markets for hand-made products and at Plymarket, they can be seen for free. Besides that, there are teams that do small outdoor performances in the park every evening. In fact, the 10-centimeter team’s music is a sophisticated adaptation of the music used in the playground.

In particular, the walls of the Hongdae playground bathroom are one of the main graffiti spots. In addition, there are many murals in every alley, so the alley of Hongdae is also called the "Mural Street of Hongdae."

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