New live rock bar opens in Itaewon

Kirk Kwon is manager of Thunderhorse, a small live bar in Itaewon, Seoul. / Korea Times

By John Redmond

Since the closure of Seoul’s most popular live venue “Ole Stompers,” many bars have stepped in to take up the slack. Recently Itaewon saw the birth of a new, foreign owned, live music bar, run by a musician.

Named Thunderhorse, this small live bar run by Canadian drummer and sound engineer, Kirk Kwon, who has worked with such acts as Motorhead and 50 Cent, has been attracting a lot of buzz on the local scene.

With a state of the art sound system and electronic drum kit, the management guarantees that both audiences and musicians will get the full benefit of what the musicians provide.

The choice of draft beer is broad with Smithwicks at 5000 won, Guinness for 6000 won and Red Rock at 3500 won.

The food menu includes The Thunderburger on sale for 12000 won, a chicken burger at the same price and pizzas for 7500 won.

Though lately the bar has taken on an open mic style, there are some big acts lined up for Christmas and the New Year.

Thunderhorse is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 5 p.m. till late.

To get to there, leave Iteawon station at exit 4. Walk away from the Hamilton Hotel heading towards the antique stores. Thunderhorse is about 100 meters on the right on the second floor.