The richest area in Korea, where everyone wishes to settle down

Out of 7 department stores in kimchi, there are 3 brands, 4 are located in Gangnam.

Naturally, department stores in Gangnam have the highest sales.

Last year, the Gangnam branch of Shinsegae Department Store in Seocho district reported sales of 2.840 billion won, followed by Lotte Department Store’s Jamsil branch in Songpa district with 2.6 trillion won.

The department stores’ reputation attracts customers from outside of Gangnam. Ease of access is another factor that draws many shoppers here.

Galleria Luxury Hall West department store in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam district, south of Seoul. Image: Gangnam-Gu Office.

Gangnam is also known for its large number of plastic surgery facilities, especially in Sinsa-dong.

Sinsa subway station is flooded with ads for plastic surgery, buses are also plastered with advertisements for beauty facilities.

It is not uncommon to see people with their faces wrapped in bandages due to cutlery walking on the street.

According to the National Tax Service, 470 plastic surgery clinics were registered in Gangnam in 2017, which is more than 30% of the total number of facilities in the country.

Was Gangnam always popular?

Gangnam’s current reputation doesn’t really go back too long. The development of the area began in the 1960s under President Park Chung Hee.

Before development, this was an agricultural land with a lot of strawberry fields.

Gangnam has long been excluded from development plans because the lowlands and swamps make construction difficult. The geographical features still make the area prone to flooding.

Back in the 1960s, Gangbuk, or the area north of the Han River, was more famous than Gangnam. Most of the department stores and prestigious schools are located in Gangbuk, where most of the population is very affluent.

Gangnam at the time was just a “remote and peaceful village with a few shabby cottages at the foot of the hill,” according to Son Jeong-mok, former director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Urban Planning Bureau, in Interview with JoongAng Ilbo 2014.

Even two decades following it began to develop, Gangnam still feels like the countryside.

“Gangnam was all farmland when we moved in. I saw cows plowing the fields and smelled fertilizer. The environment is a bit scary because all around are fields and mountains,” said a resident of Gangnam district who moved to the city in 1982 from Gangbuk.

Gangnam was once a poor agricultural land until it was developed a few decades ago. Image: Shutterstock.

The reason Gangnam was invested in development was to disperse Seoul’s population, which was densely concentrated in Gangbuk. In the 1960s, more than 70% of Seoul’s population lived in Gangbuk. In 1970, Seoul’s population reached 5.43 million, an increase of 14% from a year earlier.

The problem of overpopulation causes housing shortage problem and leads to disorganized urban development in the city.

Gangbuk mightn’t cope as the population continued to grow. The development of Gangnam began in earnest in the 1970s and the population at that time was regarding 6 million people.

Fear of war is another driving force for Gangnam’s growth.

In 1975, Seoul announced a plan to build social infrastructure to develop urban functions in Gangnam. The first goal was to transfer government offices, such as City Hall, the Prosecutor’s Office, and the headquarters of financial institutions, including the Bank of Korea and the Korea Development Bank.

The attempt failed and only the Supreme Court and the Prosecutor’s Office moved to Gangnam. But over the years, other organizations, such as the National Intelligence Service, were also relocated here.

A major drawback of the development is creating an uncomfortable feeling for both residents both inside and outside of Gangnam.

“How does it feel to live in Gangnam? I come from a poor family in Daejeon. I often come to Gangnam for work, but every time I come here, I feel jealous, inferior and wonder what it’s like to live in an apartment of at least 2 billion won,” one person shared on Blind, Anonymous community for workers, Feb. 8.

In August 2022, Seoul suffered the worst flood in history, causing the Gangnam area to flood heavily. Image: Yonhap.

Gangnam residents also tend to feel the same way.

“I grew up with a house in my name in Gangnam, but I’m afraid to live here. In order to have pocket money and a good education for my children, I need a high income. That can’t happen to an ordinary office worker and my children will be ridiculed,” one person said.

The average cost of taking classes at a hagwon in Daechi-dong is 28,000 won/hour, the highest in Seoul, double the cost in Mapo district, west of Seoul.

Kim Jun-hyung, a professor who teaches real estate at Myongji University, said: “Every country has wealthy neighborhoods. But the problem in South Korea is that the government doesn’t disclose the income of residents living in each county. Disclosure of information transparently, collecting larger amounts of taxes from affluent neighborhoods and spending them on low- to middle-income neighborhoods would be good benefits, which might offer many opportunities. more for people with low to middle income to enter Gangnam”.