Hannam-dong is top home to foreigners

In Hannam-dong, a diplomats` town has been formed because there are many facilities appropriate for foreigners and because of the strong point that residents can exchange information conveniently.

In such places as Sejongno -- because the Cheong Wa Dae, Central Government Complex and the media are near -- many embassies were built and established there.

Hannam-dong, Itaewon-dong, Dongbinggo-dong:

There are more than 90 foreign official residences and offices, such as foreign embassies and consulates in these locales. This area is a representative foreigners` town, where more than 8,000 people reside, excluding American soldiers and military civilian employees.

This area has transformed into a foreigners` town ever since the U.S. military stayed here after the Korean War. As Korea actively established diplomatic ties with foreign countries in the 1960s, many foreign official residences and offices that came to Korea quite naturally settled down in this area.

Embassies are especially crowded in the surrounding area of Dankook University in Hannam-dong and around the Capital Hotel, between Hannam Elementary School and the Hill Side Apartments. In close proximity are many high-class restaurants, where foreigners frequently visit. Embassies of Italy, Spain, Belgium, Turkey, India, Republic of South Africa, Mexico and others are here.

There are many geographical advantages. There is a cheap and good quality bonded goods shopping center in Itaewon-dong. This place was designated as a special tourist area of Seoul in 1997, after getting to be known overseas through the Asian Games in 1996 and the Olympics in 1988.

The fact that there are many high-class hotels, such as the Hyatt, Hamilton and Capital Hotel, nearby where diplomats can use as meeting places is also a big strong point.

Many foreigners-only department stores have been established, and Seoul`s only Islam Central Mosque is in Hannam-dong.

For these reasons, the results of the Seoul city government survey of 153 foreigners living in Korea regarding which residential area they prefer showed that Hannam-dong and Itaewon-dong were the first and second places, with 22.7% and 19.5% respectively.

Sejongno, Jongno:

Opposite the Central Government Complex in Sejongno is the U.S. Embassy. Originally, American diplomats had established an office next to the U.S. ambassador`s official residence, the Habib House, in the end of Chosun Dynasty, which has become Jeong-dong, Jung-ku, and engaged in diplomatic activities, but they withdrew during the period of Japan`s forcible occupation.

After Korea¡¯s independence, the United States rebuilt an embassy building in Uljiro 2-ka. After that, in 1968, the embassy was moved to the AID building, opposite the Central Government Complex of the present, where it is more accessible for processing work between the United States and Korea.

The first embassy building to be built in the Sejongno area was the British Embassy. British diplomats selected the place where the embassy is at present, next to the Deoksugung Palace, and resided there. After withdrawing from the location during the Japanese occupation and the Korean War, they built another embassy building in the same place in 1957. Next to the embassy, there is an Anglican Church.

The place where the most embassies are concentrated in Sejongno is the Kyobo Building. There are seven embassies there, including those of Australia, New Zealand, Austria and others.

"Ever since the approval of the Kyobo Building was given in the mid-`80s, foreign embassies successively came in," an official at the building said. "The Business Hall on the first floor and the French restaurant on the second floor are spaces that foreigners frequently utilize."

Other than these, in the nearby Shinmunno, there are Portuguese, Swiss, Swedish, Saudi Arabian, and Singapore embassies, and in Jongno, there are embassies of such Central and South American countries as Dominica, El Salvador and Venezuela.

Kwon Ki-Tae sungchul@donga.com