It is often said that Mullae's place name carries a memory of the textile industry. Yet walking the neighborhood today, you hear metal being cut before anything resembling thread or fabric. Where the name and the current industry no longer match, the second layer of reading this neighborhood begins.
Yeongdeungpo as an industrial zone
Mullae did not exist as a standalone industrial area; it took shape as part of the wider Yeongdeungpo area's growth into one of modern Seoul's leading industrial zones Fact. Favorable access to rail and logistics, and proximity to the city center, were conditions that drew factories to this area.
The name stayed, the industry moved
Within that industrial zone, Mullae's character narrowed over time to a district especially dense with machine and metal processing Fact. The industry of metal was layered on top of a name left by weaving. Exactly how many workshops handle which goods in this alley right now keeps changing, so seeing it with your own eyes as you walk is the most accurate approach Unconfirmed.