No comprehensive university campus dominates central Daehangno today, yet the road's name still points to one. Seoul National University's headquarters and colleges of liberal arts and sciences, law, and fine arts occupied the Dongsung-dong area, while its medical college and hospital stood in Yeongeon-dong. The movement of students, professors, bookshops, and dabang coffeehouses survives in the name.
The 1975 move to Gwanak emptied the site Under a plan to consolidate the university, most facilities except the medical college and hospital moved to the Gwanak campus. This was more than a change of address: the surrounding commerce, culture, and a major center of student activism also shifted. Large public plots and a few buildings remained in Dongsung-dong.
Parks and arts institutions entered the vacant campus Part of the former liberal-arts and law site became Marronnier Park, while an arts center, galleries, and cultural organizations settled nearby. Private small theaters then clustered around them. Performing arts created a new collective identity where the university had been.
Distinguish Seoul's Daehangno from other “university roads” Many Korean cities use the term for streets near campuses, but Seoul's Daehangno is both an official road name and a symbol of a cultural district. It generally runs from Jongno 5-ga to Hyehwa Rotary, although visitors experience the theater district most intensely around Marronnier Park and the side streets.
