Korean Job Discussion Forums

[createasaurus21]

Just about every other action sport is popular here: snowboarding, mountain biking, windsurfing, kiteboarding, bmx, in-line skating ... but in the past three years I've lived here, I've only seen maybe two skateboarders during that time, and one was a foreigner.

And they have several parks too along the Han River in Seoul but I've only seen in-line skaters and razor-riding kids there.

[Joe Boxer]

I actually bought a skateboard here, about eight years ago. I'd skate with a buddy of mine, and the Koreans would think it was so strange that two grown men would be using a children's toy at 10pm. Lol

Besides that, the sidewalks are garbage here. Uneven bricks cemented together, that are dangerous enough to walk on, and impossible to skate on. Take the "mode of transportation" aspect out of skating, and it's much less of a draw.

[pkang0202]

Skateboards are considered children's toys.

Also, there are no famous Korean skaters. I bet you if a Korean won the X-Games then you'd see more skateboarders here.

[Squire]

Young people don't have the time or energy? You have to put in a lot of work to pull off even basic tricks

The climate isn't bad for it though. Surfaces are rarely frosty, wet or even damp.

[byrddogs]

Don't know if it is still there (imagine it is), but there was a small skate park along the Han near Ttukseom station I believe. I used to watch kids ripping it up there when I would bike along the trail.

Took these photos a couple of years ago: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7151587@N04/

[Mix1]

Hard to say the exact reason but I'll throw out a few possible ones...

1. it's a solo sport you often do alone
2. you can easily get hurt
3. you fall down a lot (oh no, dirty!)
4. it's creative and open ended with varied styles and tricks
5. it has no defined rules or point system
6. it's aggressive/dangerous/wild
7. it's not glamourous
8. they are more into rollerblading (with full pads, etc.)
9. it's not really seen as a true sport
10. it's fashionable but only in an underground cutting edge way
11. it's loud, fast and unpredictable
12. They put hard rules on behaviors for certain age groups (and it's still seen as a kid's sport here)
13. There hasn't been a Korean skateboard star yet (Daewon Song is American)
14. Skateboarding is not truly mainstream anywhere (except maybe California)
15. For a huge city, ironically there are not that many good spots to do it here
16. The skateparks here are pretty terrible compared to almost everywhere else and are seen as playgrounds, which is true; there are always little kids running all over them

There are some very good skaters here, but nowhere near as many as what you would expect in a city the size of Seoul. And they tend to be the types that just don't care what others think of them. Let's be honest, that's not exactly the most common Korean trait is it?

In other words it tends to be the people who just love the sport and aren't fashion slaves or out to impress everyone. And unlike back home (esp. California) where if you are a good skater you get chicks, here the chicks run from it and it's just not looked on as cool at all.

Also the forced military service kind of puts a cramp in the skating lifestyle, taking away some of the best years for doing it (the young adult years). And once you quit for two years, it's hard to get back into it.

[deizio]

I used to skate at the "X-Games" park when I lived in Suwon (really nice skatepark, north Suwon at Manseok Park, no idea if it's still there) in 2004 and there were loads of Koreans skateboarding there then. When I came back to Korea to live in Seoul in '07 I went to the little park at Ttukseom a couple of times with no other skateboarders to be seen, although it's not exactly an exciting place to skate. Haven't been out on the board in a few years so no idea what the scene is like now.

Totally agree with the mode of transport comment, I used the board to get around town loads back home in the UK and other places, but it's pretty much a non-starter here.

[crazy_arcade]

It's just an underground scene...a fair number of skaters that you can meet at any given park in Seoul (there's gotta be at least 20-25 skateparks within Gyeonggi/Incheon/Seoul alone. A lot of people on the preriphery of skateboarding that are interested in the clothes and stuff but don't actually do it.

[myenglishisno]

[byrddogs]

[myenglishisno]

[Joe Boxer]

[Oldschoolskater]

I brought 6 decks here for myself and my three year old daughter. I was sponsored by the local shop as a kid and during my time here hope to get a few tricks happening again on the local ramp here in bundang.
Just like everyone has said though, I have been asked why am I skating as it is just for children.

[Squire]

I was going to suggest Korea is quite hilly but then that shouldn't be a problem in towns and cities

[Mix1]