Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Unsurprisingly, many of South Korea's cultural treasures old and new are concentrated in
Seoul. While decades of war and rapid development have taken a toll, the city has man-
aged to retain some of its historical assets, including a handful of palaces, gates, and royal
shrines where ancient ceremonies are frequently reenacted. The country's most extensive
collection of artifacts is housed at the massive National Museum of Korea in the Yongsan
district, and dozens of smaller museums throughout the city offer collections of everything
from folk culture to chicken figurines. The previously rather anemic art scene has taken a
marked turn for the better in recent years with the addition of the Leeum Samsung Museum
of Art, which boasts an exceptional selection of contemporary work, and the profusion of
cutting-edge galleries in the Hongdae, Samcheong-dong, and Sinsa-dong areas, long haunts
of South Korea's up-and-coming painters, musicians, and designers.
Seoul has multiple live music and performance venues, including the Sejong Center for
the Performing Arts in the old city center, the home base of the metropolitan philharmonic,
opera, and dance companies, and the Seoul Arts Center, which frequently hosts musicals
and imported classical acts. The city is now a regular stop on tours by international rock
and pop acts, and there's also plenty of capable local talent on display most nights in the
live music bars of Hongdae and Itaewon. The global dance culture has taken firm root here,
with big-name DJs making regular appearances in the megaclubs of Itaewon and Gangnam.
Seoul's expatriate population is fairly large—there are nearly 400,000 non-South Korean
nationals living in the city—and it is rapidly expanding and increasingly diverse, which
means most new arrivals have little trouble finding like-minded people to socialize with or
organizations that cater to their interests. As the city is still somewhat off Asia's beaten ex-
pat path, foreign nationals in Seoul tend to bond quickly and are highly supportive of each
other, although the transient nature of expatriate life means you may see a lot of friends
come and go. The local government maintains an excellent—and entirely free—help center
service for foreign residents that can assist new arrivals with issues like housing, securing
utilities, and banking; it's headquartered near City Hall and has branches in expat-heavy
areas like Yongsan and Gangnam.
Much of the expatriate social scene revolves around the restaurants and (especially) the
pubs of Itaewon, but even teetotalers can find plenty to keep them busy. Clubs such as the
