'If Euljiro goes down, so do we'

Lee Kyung-min, 32, stands outside his graphic design studio at Sewoon Electronics Plaza, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

• Published Jan 23, 2019 12:14 PM KST
• Updated Jan 23, 2019 5:57 PM KST

As redevelopment tears through Euljiro area, artists fear for their work ― and livelihood

By Lee Suh-yoon

Like any artist or designer in Seoul, Lee Kyung-min, 32, frequented the Euljiro area since his university years.

Lee combed through the narrow alleys of Euljiro to find materials or print his designs at its small factories, first for school assignments and later independent design projects for his Itaewon studio.

In March 2018, Lee moved the studio to Sewoon Electronics Plaza, a concrete megastructure at the nexus of the small-alley ecosystem of industrial supply stores and garage-sized factories.

“Whenever I'm trying something experimental, a short walk around the neighborhood provides me with the exact acrylic panel, ceramic tile or steel frame I need. The shops also give me new ideas,” Lee said in an interview at his studio, Monday.

The complex attracted many young artists and manufacturers after the 2015 “Remaking Sewoon Project,” which remodeled parts of the building and trumpeted it as the center stage of the “maker movement” ― propped up by Euljiro area's diverse and small-scale manufacturing infrastructure.

Less than a year after he moved in, however, Lee found out

chunks of the decades-old manufacturing district were being razed

to build high-rise apartments, and that the entire Euljiro manufacturing district had been rezoned for the same fate. He felt betrayed.

“Because of the city government's emphasis on regeneration in the Sewoon Plaza project, artists like me thought it would preserve the surrounding metal workshops, printing factories and supply shops that work in synergy with the studios in Sewoon,” Lee said. “Sewoon without Euljiro will be just a dead monument of what it currently is. There will be no reason for me to stay here.”

Lee is not the only one caught off guard. Other artists and designers who set up their studios in the Euljiro area for the same reason ― easy access to any supply part or specialized craftsmanship within a 3-kilometer radius ― are also alarmed by the recent developments.

“Magazines, interior decor, camera parts, stage props, even election campaign leaflets… all these things we encounter every day are made in Euljiro. It's the only place that efficiently handles both small- and large-scale manufacturing,” Shin In-ah, 33, a graphic designer who specializes in print design, said in an interview at a fourth-floor shared studio overlooking the torn-down shops in Sewoon District 3.

“The thriving indie publishing industry is possible because of Euljiro. It allows affordable small-scale production. Most of the limited editions found at Seoul Art Book Fair are made here.”

Do Han-kyeol, 33, a graphic and interior decor designer who shares Shin's studio, says the value of this tight-knit manufacturing ecosystem at Euljiro is irreplaceable.

“When you go to a book-binding factory in Euljiro, the shopkeeper draws you a map to a nearby thread store you can quickly pop in to. You have intimate control over a fast and smooth process,” Do said. “If this neighborhood is ripped apart and the shops scattered, the same process will be much slower, not to mention transport costs that make small-scale production unfeasible.”

Kim Fhui-ae, 27, another graphic designer at the shared workshop, echoed Do's concerns, saying Euljiro's demise will ultimately mean worse working conditions for freelance designers.

“Freelance designers are given a set sum per project. Higher production costs due to long-distance transport eats into slim profit margins,” Kim said.

So artists ― commonly regarded as agents of gentrification ― have taken central roles in the fight against the destructive changes taking place in the Euljiro area alongside its traders and craftsmen. About 30 artists are actively participating in Cheonggye Stream Anti-Gentrification Alliance (Euljiro area is also commonly referred to as the Cheonggye Stream area in Korean due to its proximity). Over the past few weeks, the group has

held rallies

demanding the city government preserve the area as a special manufacturing district.

As their stories have been making headlines recently and public criticism is growing toward the redevelopment project,

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said last week

the city government would prepare measures to preserve the time-honored stores and restaurants. But not many expect a drastic change, because scrapping the redevelopment project would be impossible and many shops have already been demolished.

“We don't understand how they could permit redevelopment here,” said Yi Young-yeun, 34, a product designer and one of the organizers for the alliance. “Businesses here provide basic components and services that are relevant to any manufacturing process and are not affected by individual product trends. There was stable business here.”

Yi, who produces bags and other accessories with recycled trash, recently lost her main supplier and tailoring factory that she had been working with for years to the redevelopment at District 3.

Artists located outside Euljiro are just as concerned, as they coordinate much of their production here. Many partook in social media campaigns organized by the alliance, saying they too lost long-time manufacturing partners in the Euljiro area.

The compact network of manufacturing resources in Euljiro area has no comparable counterpart in any other metropolis in the world, giving Seoul's artists a great advantage in realizing their creative potential, Yi says.

“My Japanese artist friends all marvel at Euljiro during their visits to Seoul,” Yi said. “Making high-quality sample products is not as easy for them... they have to first track down master craftsmen scattered all over the country.”