Itaewon: Seoul's Multicultural Quarter Shaped by the U.S. Base이태원: 미군기지가 만든 서울의 다문화 1번지

Itaewon's internationalism is older than most people guess: in the Joseon era, the area already served travelers and foreign envoys passing to and from the royal court. Its modern shape, though, was set by the military base next door. After the Korean War, the U.S. Eighth Army made Yongsan Garrison its headquarters, and the streets beside it grew into Seoul's most international strip — tailors, bars, clubs, and shops catering to American soldiers, at a time when foreigners were rare everywhere else in Korea. In 1976 the Seoul Central Mosque, Korea's first, opened on a hill above the main street, anchoring a Muslim community and a halal restaurant quarter that thrives today. Itaewon also became home to one of Korea's most visible LGBTQ scenes, and later to communities from Africa, the Middle East, and beyond. The garrison has now largely relocated south to Pyeongtaek, and its vast grounds are gradually being converted into Yongsan Park. The neighborhood carries a recent sorrow too: the crowd crush of October 29, 2022, during Halloween festivities, took more than 150 lives, and a memorial alley near Itaewon Station asks for quiet respect. Today Itaewon and its side streets — Gyeongnidan-gil, Haebangchon — remain what they have long been: the place where Korea and the world meet over dinner.