For decades, Itaewon was the place respectable Koreans avoided—ground zero for American soldiers, sex workers, and everyone who didn't fit. But its foreign restaurants and Instagram-worthy cafés sparked "ladification" in the 2010s, drawing young women to spaces designed for aesthetic consumption. Then Netflix turned it into a symbol of freedom. Then 159 people died on Halloween. This is the story of how Seoul's most stigmatized neighborhood became its most celebrated, and why the transformation was always more symbolic than structural.
The punk accessory from Balenciaga runways landed in Hongdae alleys—and nobody's asking permission anymore.