KOREA ON CUE · ISSUE 12 · SEOCHON

Seochon, the Lanes Below Inwangsan

Seochon lies west of Gyeongbokgung, below Inwangsan. Fill a lunch tray with old-style coins at Tongin Market, follow the lanes up to the stone bridge of Suseongdong Valley, and ride up to the Yun Dong-ju Literature Museum on the pass.

Read the first story
A market entrance seen from across the road: an arched-roof gateway with a smaller wooden-eaved gate beneath it, low buildings on either side. No lettering. Editorial image.

Recommended reading order

  1. Tongin Market: Ten Coins and a Lunch Chosen Again, One Space at a Time — Maya Walks Up from Exit 2 of Gyeongbokgung Station into Seochon and Refills, Space by Space, the Coin Lunchbox She Once Saved from a Screen01Tongin Market: Ten Coins and a Lunch Chosen Again, One Space at a TimePart one of “Seochon.” Tongin Market, in the middle of Seochon to the west of Gyeongbokgung Palace, grew out of a public market founded in 1941 and now has some 70 shops. Since 2012 its lunchbox café has let visitors swap cash for old-style coins and fill a tray with small portions from around the market. Maya saved a picture of that finished tray on a screen long ago. This time she walks the aisle and fills the spaces herself.SEOUL · 8 min read
  2. Suseongdong Valley: a stone bridge 711 metres’ walk uphill from the market lanes — Noah walks uphill from Tongin Market towards Inwangsan, reading a valley named after the sound of its water and an old bridge laid in long single stones02Suseongdong Valley: a stone bridge 711 metres’ walk uphill from the market lanesPart two of “Seochon”.SEOUL · 7 min read
  3. The Yun Dong-ju Literature Museum: Two Water Tanks Behind One Square of Sky — Elena Takes the Bus from Gyeongbokgung Station up to Jahamun Pass, Walks Through Rooms That Were Once Water Tanks, and Ends the Afternoon on Poet’s Hill03The Yun Dong-ju Literature Museum: Two Water Tanks Behind One Square of SkyThe last part of “Seochon.” Water-stained concrete walls with the sky cut into a square above them: that is the Yun Dong-ju Literature Museum Elena knows from screens. Elena, who reads scenes, heads up to Jahamun Pass to find out whether that smooth shot holds on the street — and why it always seems to be the same shot.SEOUL · 9 min read

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