Haebangchon contains layers of history

Central Seoul's Haebangchon is located uphill of U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

This article is the second part in a three-part series about the past, present and future of central Seoul's Haebangchon (HBC) neighborhood.

By Jon Dunbar

Throughout its history, central Seoul's Haebangchon (HBC) neighborhood has always been welcoming to migrants and the vulnerable in search of a place to call home.

It's somewhat well-known that HBC got its name, translated in English to "Liberation Village," due to its origins as a refugee camp.

Two photos on display in an alley of Haebangchon show past and present views of the neighborhood. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

"Haebangchon is an urban neighborhood mostly formed by the temporary settlement of refugees from North Korea after the Korean War as well as domestic immigrants from the southern part of the Korean Peninsula," said GwangYa Han, a professor of urban design at Dongguk University.

Its establishment was made possible due to its proximity to Seoul Station, which at the time was the terminal station of the Gyeongui Line connecting Seoul with Pyongyang. Residents from Pyongyang and nearby Sunchon fled here, not due to the 1950-53 Korean War but in the wake of liberation in 1945, especially after the North Korean government enacted land reforms in 1946, essentially taking land away from land owners.

Another important factor in the formation of the settlement in the area was the recently vacated land following Japan's withdrawal from the peninsula. Japanese imperial forces left behind Gyeongseong Hoguk Shrine, as well as a sizeable empty military garrison just downhill.

Haebang Tower in central Seoul's Haebangchon neighborhood, June 22 / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

The shrine, built in 1943, was located at the current site of Haebang Tower and surrounded by support facilities, which Han says constituted the first settlement in today's HBC.

"Upon the shrine's dismantlement after Korean liberation, it is predictable that informal temporary dwelling communities would be created on the site of the shrine whose ownership has been lost and in the surrounding area," Han said.

One of the few traces that remain of this period is the 108 Stairs that had once led up to the shrine. In recent years, an inclined elevator was built in the middle of the stairs to aid elderly residents when climbing the hill to their homes.

An inclined elevator now runs through the middle of the 108 Stairs, the oldest remaining relic of central Seoul's Haebangchon neighborhood, June 22. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

He refers to this area as Lower Haebangchon, while also using the name Upper Haebangchon for the other side, the area closer to Noksapyeong Station on Seoul Metro Line 6. That site has its own unique origin story as well.

"It has been said that their initial settlement was the then-vacant Japanese military headquarters building and its surroundings in Yongsan Garrison," Han explained. "At that time, the United States Army Military Government in Korea (1945-48) took over Yongsan, but it must have lacked control."

Yongsan Garrison was once again made off-limits to the Korean public in September 1953, when the 8th U.S. Army moved its headquarters into the garrison from Dongsung-dong (located just east of today's Hyehwa Station on Seoul Metro Line 4).

The Artist House of Arts Council Korea in northeastern Seoul's Marronnier Park, April 15, previously housed the headquarters of the Eighth U.S. Army from 1951 to 1953. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

"As a result, temporary residents within the US military base would have been evicted, and huts and shanty towns would have been built in the shooting range, a hilly area to the north," Han said.

In its early years, the residents of HBC established churches, schools and various welfare facilities, some of which still exist today, even if the area is hardly identifiable anymore as a "moon village," a term used to describe a Korean refugee camp built on the slope of a mountain.

Han said the settlers of this village likely received land ownership rights from Seoul Metropolitan Government in the 1970s, as happened with many moon villages at the time.

Stairs like these in Lower Haebangchon, Nov. 16, 2018, show decades of patchwork. Many such staircases have been fixed up recently. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

"However, Haebangchon has a big difference from (the others)," Han pointed out. "While Haebangchon was formed as a residential area, it produced not only casual U.S. military supplies for the adjacent U.S. military base, but also knitted sweaters supplied to Namdaemun Market and Myeong-dong, and jeans to Itaewon, in the process of industrialization of Seoul and Korea as well. In short, it functioned as an industrial production complex on Mount Nam in the inner Seoul area."

Lower Haebangchon faces toward Seoul Station, Nov. 16, 2018. / Korea Times photo by Jon Dunbar

During its first golden age in the 1970s and 1980s, Han says the population was as high as 30,000, triple the current number, and there were about 200 knitwear manufacturers offering employment. Currently, there are about 30 such companies still active in the neighborhood.

Since then, the population has been shrinking, reaching 20,776 in 1990. These days, HBC's population is around 13,199, of which 1,324 are foreign, accounting for over 10 percent, and likely rising even more since the numbers were last counted, as more foreign residents move in and more Koreans move out or die of old age.

Multiple interviewees pointed to two major factors in the formation of HBC's foreign community: the longevity of Phillies Pub opened in 1997, and the growing popularity of HBC Festival which started in 2006. Following years of the pandemic, nightlife started to return to the area in 2022. The Studio HBC started offering events almost every night of the week, and next door the Rabbithole Arcade Pub became the center of the local drag scene. On some weekends, the street can feel pretty crowded.

But for how long? Changes to the current status quo are inevitable, with big developments all around Yongsan District.