Itaewon Freedom

The following is the original of my latest feature for Yonhap News Agency - the shorter published version can be found here (worth looking at for the photos by Jake Hanus, if nothing else:

Koreans Drawn to Freedom of Foreign Enclave

Situated just outside the concertina-wire topped concrete walls of U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan  –  home to the headquarters of United States Forces Korea  –  the suburb of Itaewon has long been known as a foreigner-friendly enclave. U.S. troops roam the streets, monitored in the evenings by Courtesy Patrols of Military and Korean National Police; English-language teachers mingle with international students; Africans of various nations peddle jewelry on street corners; and Pakistani, Indian and Turkish restaurants share street space with Western diners and English-style bars.

Itaewon’s foreign flavor precedes all of these newer immigrants, however. Historian Robert Neff, co-author of “Korea Through Western Eyes,” said the Japanese were based in the area when they occupied South Korea and before the Americans moved in. Neff has also been told that a Chinese presence preceded the Japanese but has no proof of that claim.

The faces on Itaewon’s streets have changed again recently, as Koreans reclaim this most non-Korean of suburbs, which was once considered both unsafe and undesirable.  

When Ashley Cheeseman, Executive Assistant Manager of the Grand Hilton Seoul, first visited Seoul in 1997 with his Korean wife, she did not tell him about Itaewon, “because she had only heard bad things,” he said.

The Englishman was told of the area by another Westerner and visited, finding a home away from home. Cheeseman and his wife subsequently lived one suburb over in Hannam for many years, and he continues to visit Itaewon three or four times a week.

“There wasn’t so much of a mix back then,” he said. “People were very segregated. You had the African community going to one place, Filipinos going to another.

“Now, I see this community where everybody is accepted and nobody is looked down or frowned upon.

“You have this perfect combination of young Koreans being in an environment with a lot of foreigners.”

He believes the change began when Korea co-hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and Koreans wanted to socialize with foreigners and be part of a global experience. Itaewon was one of several focal points in Seoul where locals and visitors gathered together to watch the games.

Kevin Cyr, the Canadian owner of the Chili King burger bar, is another long-time visitor to Itaewon who has watched the area mature along with Korea itself. After coming to Korea as an English teacher in 1996, Cyr started selling chili burgers from a truck on the Itaewon main street in 2008 and moved to permanent premises on a side street in April 2009.

In 1996, he said, Itaewon was dominated by young American military and English teachers, he said.

“Most Koreans didn’t come to Itaewon because it was still considered dirty and dangerous.”

He said that perception has changed with promotion of the area by the Korean Government and as Koreans “slowly but surely become more wordly.”

“The late-20s, early-30s generation wants to experience more than Korea. A lot of them have either gone abroad, studied abroad or been on trips, so when they come back to Korea, they still want that authentic feeling. They don’t want to go to a Bennigans. They want to go to an Italian restaurant that actually has an Italian cook. They want to go to an American burger joint that actually has a Westerner cooking. They want the authenticity.

“Itaewon is basically the only place that really offers that.”

Koreans on the Itaewon streets gave similar reasons when asked what brought them to the suburb. Young parents Shim Gyu Sang and his wife Choi Hye Young said they both first came to Itaewon as middle school students and now visit every year or two. Bringing their 10-month old daughter for her first visit, Choi said she had noticed many more Koreans in the area.

Koreans frequented the area, she said, because “there are lots of tasty restaurants and many authentic restaurants.”

Nineteen-year-old Lee Jeong Sun, who was visiting to take photos with two of her friends, said she had been to Itaewon “just a few times.”

“When I was just a high-school student,” she said, “I heard that Itaewon is a beautiful place, similar to Europe, with so many foreigners.

“I think Itaewon is not like Korea because so many foreigners live here so they have their own culture and their own behavior.”

Kang Jeong Moon (26) said that he has visited Itaewon to shop, go to dance clubs and meet friends about 20 times in the past 10 years. He had also noticed a lot more of his fellow citizens in the suburb and said it was the foreign experience that attracted them.

“If you can’t go to America, you can still come to Itaewon,” he said.

Another factor that draws Koreans to the area, in a country where social media is an enormous influence on so-called “Netizens,” is a song that became a Facebook and Youtube phenomena in March of this year. “Itaewon Freedom” is an ‘80s-style disco/rap parody that speaks of freedoms unavailable elsewhere in a culture that has rigid expectations of its citizens.

The duo UV, consisting of musicians Yoo Seyoon and Myuji, and rapper JYP donned faux afros to sing lines that include translations of “a world full of youth” and “the world is there.”

Cheeseman said the song and the influence of many more foreigners on Korean television added to the attraction of Itaewon.

“There’s nobody there judging you,” he said.

“Especially with young couples, it’s an ideal location to go. They can be more affectionate with each other without people looking at them and criticizing them with their eyes.”

Cyr agreed that the area offers a freedom not easily found elsewhere in this strictly-regimented society.

“For them it’s like they’re living on the wild side,” he said.

Other long-time foreign residents grumble about the influx of Koreans to what many view as their own small part of the peninsula, though none spoken to wanted to go on record doing so.

Cheeseman said he had heard such complaints.

“But at the end of the day,” he said, “we’re in their country. We are the visitors here so to have Koreans with us and socially accepting us – there can be nothing better.”

Giving Back to Korea

SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Yonhap) -- When volunteers open the front doors to enter the Second Hand Rose Thrift Shop on Seoul's main U.S. military base three days a week, they are usually greeted by customers waiting, often regulars who help move larger items outside on display.
They're there to browse the rooms of quality used clothing, toys and household goods, knowing there's always merchandise being added from the constant stream of donations left in the bins out back.
What fewer of them know is that their payments are also treated as donations, and passed on to help many of the often-unseen needy throughout Korea.
Second Hand Rose has been active on the U.S. Army's Yongsan Base since 1977. The store itself is only for shoppers with access to the base, but its profits are split evenly between U.S. Forces Korea causes, including scholarships and grants to Korean groups and individuals in need of help.
That amounts to about US$160,000 a year given in grants and scholarships, in addition to a huge amount of surplus goods that are donated directly to those who need them. The store, owned and run by the American Women's Club Thrift Store Association (AWCTSA), is affiliated with the American Women's Club.
Ella Catineau, who has been president and manager of the shop since September last year, said her shop is staffed by volunteers whose numbers fluctuate, particularly over summer when many military members and their spouses relocate. There are also Korean volunteers, with about 40 in late October.
Catineau said an executive board oversees the operations with a welfare committee that handles requests for funds from Korean charities and USFK entities. Chris Rippon, the welfare committee co-chairperson, said that she often visits many of the groups that receive the funds.
"I usually do 'look-sees', as we call them, if it's a new charity that we've never funded before or if it's a new project that we're funding," she said.
She said her husband, an executive with GM Daewoo who often drives her to "look-sees" on the weekend, encourages her, explaining how emotional he becomes whenever he sees those in need.
"He thinks that he's a burly-type guy and that emotions wouldn't get into something like this but seeing the little kids and the babies lying on the floor -- it's really emotional. It's very heart-warming, though, to know that we can help them," she said.
Charities that have received funds from AWCTSA include the Love All Nations homeless church, Myongdo Services for Persons with Learning Disabilities, Emmaus Welfare Center, and the House of Sharing, which provides residential care for Korea's elderly "comfort women" -- survivors of Japanese military sexual slavery during World War II.
Hyon O'Brien, an elder of the Love All Nations Church, said the group has received AWCTSA grants twice, totaling $8,000. She also coordinates a weekly pickup of clothing and towels from the thrift shop.
"Many men at the shelter are grateful for the help," she said. "They also feel they are not totally forgotten by society because of AWCTSA."
Emmaus director Noel O'Neill said that although the organization receives funding from the Korean government, "this falls well short of what is needed to provide quality services."
Since 1999, Emmaus has received a total of $4,000 in grants from AWCTSA. That, among other things, has helped to fund a shuttle bus to the center, meet heating costs for a sheltered workshop, and finance a project to assist young mothers who are intellectually handicapped.
"The assistance from AWCTSA has helped us in the maintenance of our centers but more so in being able to take the initiative in beginning new programs," he said.
The beneficiaries of the AWCTSA funds regularly send photos, cards and letters to the thrift shop to thank the many volunteers they don't get to meet in person. Volunteers say they feel rewarded when they are thanked.
"When I first came here, I volunteered because I wanted to do something," Catineau said. "I didn't really realize what we were doing here. Now I understand what we are doing and our mission is to help those really in need. That satisfies me because I'm helping someone."