SEOUL — Itaewon, the neighborhood where at least 146 people were killed and 150 more injured in a Halloween crowd surge, functions as a hub of central Seoul.
By day, it serves as a traffic and logistics nexus, as it has for centuries, ever since invading forces like the Mongols and Japanese stationed their troops there. By night, Itaewon bustles as a premier entertainment zone, pulsing with stylish bars and restaurants, young patrons and foreign tourists.
Itaewon is Seoul’s most internationalized and liberalized neighborhood, an enclave for expat foreigners. Young South Koreans favor Itaewon for Halloween festivities. This year’s crowd was especially large, with young South Koreans taking to the neighborhood after two years of pandemic-related restrictions.
Itaewon is part of the Yongsan district, which once hosted the United States’ main military base in South Korea. The American troops who led the United Nations forces to defend South Korea during the Korean War stayed on, building their postwar headquarters there.
Itaewon’s main street and narrow alleys crisscrossing the hilly neighborhood were lined with bars, nightclubs and shops catering to American soldiers. But under an agreement with South Korea, the United States military relocated its headquarters to a new base in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul.
Itaewon has lost most of its American military patrons, reinventing itself as a major attraction for young South Koreans. Itaewon Class, a popular South Korean TV drama on Netflix, was set partly in the neighborhood.
In recent months, Yongsan has also become the seat of presidential power. President Yoon Suk Yeol moved his office to the Defense Ministry building from the Blue House, making the ministry move to another building in Yongsan.
