While walking around Jongno-5-ga a friend remarked on how different Line 1 is from other lines linked to theSeoulmetro system – its rails and stations are noticeably older and more worn than its higher numbered lines’ counterparts.  But, as he pointed out, it’s not just inside the stations that you see this.  If someone were to blindfold you and drop you at random somewhere in the city, y ...

Before getting to the post, we’d like to extend an enormous ‘thank you’ to Jiaying Lim, who was a huge help giving us tips for the neighborhood around Hansungdae. (She even hand-drew us a map!)  We strongly suggest you check out her blog at xoxoseoul.wordpress.com, where she posts English translations of Korean pop culture articles, song lyrics, and more.  Thanks Jiaying!

One of the newest stations in the Seoul metro system, National Police Hospital Station was built right next to, you guessed it, the National Police Hospital (국립경찰병원), a hulking off-white brick building looking out over the intersection near Exit 1. A sign near its driveway says ‘ONE-STOP 지원센터 (support center)’ which makes it sound more like an electronics repair shop than ...

  It’s Seoul Week at ExploreMetro, a great series of iPhone apps that provide maps, routes, and timetables for subways in some of Asia’s biggest cities.  All this week the site’s blog will be featuring specially chosen posts from Seoul Sub→urban and offering the Explore Seoul app for just $0.99, 50% off the usual price.  Traveling?  You can also score apps for Beijing, ...

Gaerong Station sits at the southeast corner of the large Ogeum Park (오금공원) that we visited when we went to, er, Ogeum Station, so you can get the skinny on the park at that post. The one difference that I’ll point out is that the part of the park across the street from Exit 1 also sits next to a big apartment complex, so this end has a bit more rest areas to stop and settle, compared ...

What’s most striking about the area around Bangi Station is how green it is, at least by Seoul standards.  Nearly every street in the neighborhood is tree-lined, numerous walls are covered with ivy, and despite the presence of some very large roads there’s far less of the concrete jungle feeling you get in other parts of town.  Lack of green space in Seoul is an oft-bemoaned fact, though I ...

One of the first things you’ll probably notice when you exit Bulgwang Station is that the air is just a little bit more breathable here than in other parts of Seoul, and being so close to the edge of the city and to the mountains that makes sense.  The most dominating feature of the neighborhood is Bukhan Mountain (북한산), especially nearby Suri Peak (수리봉), rising up northeast of the ...

It begins the moment you step off the subway.  There, on the platform, a man calls out to passengers, hawking the belts laid out in compartmentalized boxes at his feet.  Before you exit the station you’ll pass more people doing the same – with bags, with clothes, with battery-operated toys that flash and clatter – and then you go up the steps and you’re in Dongdaemun, where all this (an ...

An anomaly in the Seoul subway system, the Line 4 station and Line 7 station in this neighborhood that marks the dividing line between Dongjak-gu and Seocho-gu actually bear different names, despite being a transfer point.  The Line 4 station is called Chongshin University, while the connecting Line 7 station is Isu.  I’m not privy to why this is exactly, so if any readers could enlighten us ...

At first glance, Yangjae might not seem like an obvious choice for getting out and experiencing the beautiful weather that May brings to Seoul.  And it’s true: the neighborhood immediately around the station would never be mistaken for the city’s most charismatic, its wide avenues and utilitarian office towers not leaving room for much charm.  (The one exception being a coffee shop near Exi ...