Today's Sogong-dong appears to be a controlled business and tourism district of hotels, department stores, and corporate headquarters. In late Joseon, however, diplomatic facilities here included Nambyeolgung, where envoys from China were received. The Korean Empire later established Hwangudan on the site. After the colonial Railway Hotel and the destruction of war, small shops, homes, and makeshift dwellings filled gaps in the central city.
Redevelopment in the 1970s sought to present the face of an international city
In 1973, Seoul designated Sogong-dong and several other central districts for redevelopment. The Plaza Hotel, completed in 1976, and the Lotte Hotel, completed in 1979, changed the skyline around City Hall and Sogong-ro. Policy was also shaped by the desire to show international-event participants and foreign visitors a modernized national capital.
Large parcels and towers erased traces of smaller lives
Redevelopment improved some roads, sanitation, and office space, but it also consolidated or demolished small landholdings, rented shops, and low-income housing. For some it meant improvement of deteriorated surroundings; for others, the loss of a home, livelihood, and social network. A history limited to hotel completion dates fails to follow the residents and merchants who were displaced.
Underground shopping passages connected different cities
The pedestrian passages and arcades beneath City Hall, Sogong-dong, and Euljiro 1-ga connect subway stations, hotels, department stores, and office buildings away from traffic and weather. They also create disconnection from surface alleys and an environment in which visitors easily lose direction. Read the underground not merely as shopping space but as another urban layer built to accommodate pedestrians in an automobile-centered downtown.