Itaewon Freedom

I will start off this post by stating my utter disdain for 이태원 (Itaewon), or the foreigner’s district. Known as “Itaewon Freedom,” Itaewon is the old red light district (and still unoffically operates as one) of Seoul, and is a haven for foreigners.
 

 Itaewon Entrance

Many come to Itaewon for the eclectic food, which ranges from American to Australian to Thai, or for clothes since many foreigners cannot fit into small Korean sizes. Many others come for the nightlife at the clubs and the many foreign bars. Others though, come for the gay nightlife in Itaewon, one of the few havens for gays, lesbians, and transgender in Korea.

Itaewon though, can be a dangerous place. As mentioned earlier, it is a red light district (many natives try to claim that it is the former red light district, but no one can deny the throngs of prostitutes that come into the bars at night looking for their next customer). It is one of the few places in Korea where it is not safe for a woman to walk alone at night. Often times, there are people passed out on the streets, aggressive thugs harassing people, as well as an army of drunken foreigners who are not as good at controlling their tempers when inebriated as Koreans are.

A very common sight

While those are the negatives, Itaewon does offer positives. It was the one place in Korea that I could find a hair salon that didn’t butcher my hair (Green Turtle Salon: **EDIT** Green Turtle Hair salon has moved, as well as their amazing hair stylist. His new salon is Salon de Michel, and his salon is located near the main entrance of Itaewon. Please support this awesome hair stylist!), and it offers a little slice of home for many with its collection of foreign food restaurants. It is also one of the few places in Korea where almost everyone speaks English. When you become deprived of your native tongue for a long period of time, you have no idea how refreshing this can be. Itaewon also offers clothes for foreigners, albeit extremely overpriced and with shopkeepers who are not willing to haggle.

Food is the one great positive about Itaewon. The restaurant alley is filled with restaurants that have food from all over the world. From Mexican, to Brazilian, to French, and Japanese, you can find just about any country's food in Itaewon. Be warned though, the food,while mostly very tasty, on average costs a lot more. Expect to pay 15,000-20,000 won per meal on average. 

 

For those who belong to the LGBT community though, it can be the one place where they can feel truly welcome in Korea, which is notoriously homophobic. The so-called “Homo Hill” offers a string of bars and nightclubs for the gay and transgender community (most lesbian bars however are located in Hongdae). It is also the location of Seoul's Gay Pride Parade.

Homo Hill

While many hate Itaewon, myself included, many have an equal amount love it. For foreigners, it should be a place that should be checked out at least once. For some, it will leave a bad taste in their mouth, for others, it will become a second home.