In Defense of Itaewon

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land. –G.K. Cheserton

In Seoul, South Korea, there are many contradictions, one of which is a neighborhood called Itaewon. In a country and city of almost complete racial homogeneity, Itaewon, situated in the geographical center of the urban metropolis, is a melting pot of diversity that would put American cities to shame. Itaewon has U.S. soldiers who wander up the hill from their post at Yongsan. Itaewon has British, Canadian, American, Australian, South African and Kiwi English teachers who come once or twice a week from their various posts all over the city to avail themselves of the foreigner-centric businesses. In Itaewon, the country’s largest Muslim mosque resides peacefully, not 10 kilometers from the country’s largest U.S. army base, and if that’s not an ideal for the rest of the world to aspire to, I don’t know what is.

There are Koreans, obviously—storekeepers and service-people who ply their trades and sell their wares to a very specific clientele. And there is a large Nigerian contingent which, well… I don’t really know what the Nigerian guys do. It’s never been adequately explained to me, honestly.

But the point is Itaewon is a place where all foreigners in Korea go to enjoy all things not Korean. Foreign foods, foreign entertainment, other foreign people—it has all been made available in one convenient location and this is a beautiful thing, undeniably so, I would say. And yet, if you wait long enough for the old Salty Dog Syndrome to set in, a person will inevitably start bad-mouthing the very experience that had been so great when they first arrived in Korea. For the newbie, Itaewon was the place to go for a burger or curry or a kebab during the day time and it was the place to go for drinking and dancing and meeting with other expatriates on Friday or Saturday night. Somewhere along the way, a shift occurs, and they will invariably start to say, “I didn’t come to Korea just to hang out with other Americans/Brits/Kiwis/Aussies. I don’t like the young GIs who pound booze, aggressively pursue women and periodically get in fights. Itaewon is a slum. Itaewon is a ghetto. I wouldn’t be caught dead in Itaewon anymore.” It has become a sign of stature and experience within the foreigner-community here to disparage Itaewon.

And I am here to tell you that this kind of behavior is inexcusable because Itaewon, my friends, is mother to us all.

Itaewon is the global economy in microcosm, and if you’re here, and you’re working, you believe in the global economy no matter what hypocritical, small-minded, short-sighted protestations of protectionism you like to espouse. In Itaewon, globally ubiquitous fast-food chains (Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway, Burger King) stand shoulder to shoulder with local fare, in this case kalbi and kim-bap. In Itaewon, high-end clothing and apparel are available in exclusive boutiques (Reebok, Nike, Everlast) that sell the genuine products while, mere meters away, in impromptu marketplaces under hastily erected tents, knock-offs and pirated versions of the same labels go for half the price. In Itaewon, you have the unique experience of sitting in a bar in Asia, drinking a South American beer served to you by an Eastern-European “hostess”, who is also waiting on African customers, who happen to be watching Australian Super 12 Rugby on the telly with the volume off because over the establishment’s speakers, they’re playing some good, old-fashioned American rock n’ roll. And that’s not just beautiful for some sappy, idealistic “we-are-all-one” sentiment; that’s beautiful because that’s the future. That’s what’s in store for all of us. And you can believe that Itaewon is what all of Korea will look like in about 25 years, especially with the declining birth rate.

Look, you can say that you detest global brands. You can say that the WTO is the greatest evil in the modern world. You can say that the reason you travel, the reason you live as an expatriate, is to experience diverse and unique cultures, not to get this global culture that is starting to pervade all corners of the planet and is largely powered by faceless, money-grubbing and heartless multi-national conglomerates. And that’s fine. But Korea is attempting to jump on this international business bandwagon, and make no mistake, be you a soldier, a teacher, a trader or a business representative, you are here in service to that ideal. You may travel so that you can experience other cultures, but your actions are helping to create the global economy and culture that you so aggressively denounce when you seek to disparage Itaewon.

Is Itaewon overwhelmingly positive? Is there no room for reproach? Not at all. The scourge of this new globalism is as alive and present in Itaewon as it is anywhere, and that scourge is human-trafficking, the modern world’s answer to the slave trade of the 18th Century. In Itaewon is Hooker Hill, a collection of bars and businesses where female company is available, for a price. There are Korean women, to be sure, but there are also Filipinos, Indonesians and women from all over the former Eastern Bloc. How do we say to them that the global economy is a positive thing? How do we say to them that this inevitable expanse is for the greater good?

So, it is possible to not like Itaewon. It is possible to deny the positive effects of international trade on human rights, just like those who protest against Nike for how it treats workers in Southeast Asia even as China, the soon-to-be world super power in the 21st century, slowly creaks open for no reason other than international markets. You can do that. But the contradictions embodied in Itaewon are contradictions that we must face and come to grips with. The positives have to be extended and the damage has to be minimized because this New World Order is expanding as inevitably and as regularly as the tides, and to oppose it rather than try to use it for our own ends is a fool’s errand.

To fight against Itaewon is to fight against the future, and that is a battle that no one can win.