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Gollum
Joined: 04 Sep 2003
Location: Japan
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 Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 8:26 am Post subject: Add your interesting Seoul/Itaewon history facts |
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Heard these tonight from a Korean dude when we were talking about Itaewon once being populated by Japanese troops. Not sure it's all true, but very interesting.
Itaewon originally meant "Pear Tree Town" in Chinese, because there were a lot of pear trees there. But later, it was adapted to another Chinese meaning for the word. I can't remember what my friend said it was, but it was something derogatory describing women getting pregnant with half-breeds. The women were shunned by Korean society, and the fathers took off, so many of them lived and worked in the sex industry to survive. Apparently, many Chinese words have double meanings, and they fit, in this case.
The "hooker hill" area of Itaewon used to be an area where there were many tombs for poor people -- not the nice family tombs we see today. Just holes dug and bodies shoved in there. No one wanted to live there, either. A Korean hooker was murdered by a GI there in a bar on the hill about 5 years ago (never knew that). Also, a Korean was murdered in the BK bathroom about 4 years ago (I had heard that one). Many older Koreans today still view it as an area of death that is cursed and has ghosts, and where people go crazy.
The Mirari Texas area was an area where many, many soliders from both sides died in a terrible fight during the Korean war. No one wanted to live on that area of land, so it naturally ended up a slum of w_hore houses, which still exists in such a state today. |
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Nowhere Man
Joined: 08 Feb 2004
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 9:05 am Post subject: ... |
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SORRY- NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH
Do not read further if you don't want to hear disgusting commentary.
Circa '96, I'd heard that someone had been stabbed in the throat at BK.
There is a very famous story about a GI raping a prostitute to death with an umbrella. The story goes that he replaced the umbrella with a bottle, but was convicted because he left his fingerprints on the bottle. The way I heard it this happened in Wouijeong-bu. Several years ago, I found a link to an article suggesting this with graphic pictures of the murder scene. Dunno if they're still out there.
Yes, it is:
WARNING-GRAPHIC IMAGES
http://www.kimsoft.com/korea/us-army.htm
Not even sure how I feel about posting that, but let it be known.
Sorry. |
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Alias
Joined: 24 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 9:36 am Post subject: |
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Many older Koreans today still view it as an area of death that is cursed and has ghosts, and where people go crazy.
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That explain the crazy old guy at Itaewan station. |
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HapKi
Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Location: TALL BUILDING-SEOUL
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:11 am Post subject: |
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| The Starbucks in Itaewon was the hundredth in Korea. |
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Ya-ta Boy
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: Established in 1994
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:39 am Post subject: |
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| Itaewon once being populated by Japanese troops. |
Itaewon/Yongsan has been used by GIs, Japanese and Chinese troops. |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Alias wrote: |
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Many older Koreans today still view it as an area of death that is cursed and has ghosts, and where people go crazy.
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That explain the crazy old guy at Itaewan station. |
Who walks through Noksapyeong station every morning and likes to call me lots of fun stuff in Korean while I'm going to work. |
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djsmnc
Joined: 20 Jan 2003
Location: Dave's ESL Cafe
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| Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2005 6:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Itaewon originally meant "Pear Tree Town" in Chinese, because there were a lot of pear trees there. But later, it was adapted to another Chinese meaning for the word. I can't remember what my friend said it was, but it was something derogatory describing women getting pregnant with half-breeds. The women were shunned by Korean society, and the fathers took off, so many of them lived and worked in the sex industry to survive. Apparently, many Chinese words have double meanings, and they fit, in this case.
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I heard this also, but later a lot of other Koreans called BS on this...I don't know what is true, but I think this story has been made up from the fear of Itaewon after some unfortunate aforementioned events in the last 10 years. The Chinese word reference is an urban legend from what I was later told.
From all accounts I have heard thus far, Itaewon was a kind of gangster hangout in the seventies that was refurbished in the 1980's to appeal more to foreigners and Koreans rather than just GI's and hustlers.
Some older Korean-American friends have said that Itaewon was alive and kicking in the late 80's, but has since fallen apart...
I don't quite know what is true or not, but Itaewon always remains a mystery to most.... |
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gypsyfish
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 1:01 am Post subject: |
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| Ya-ta Boy wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Itaewon once being populated by Japanese troops. |
Itaewon/Yongsan has been used by GIs, Japanese and Chinese troops. |
Russians, too. |
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itaewonguy
Joined: 25 Mar 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 1:07 am Post subject: |
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ITAEWON has many stories! but not as much as gwanghamun or chongno
im sure itaewon will one day be run over by the koreans and the only thing left will be the memory that once foreigners use to dwell here..
but these days its just like shinchon!
FKBK for koreans by koreans! |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 9:01 am Post subject: |
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Hmmmm. Graveyards, ghosts...........creepy stuff.
Itaewon history? My Mom used to work there as a...... |
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Beej
Joined: 05 Mar 2005
Location: Eungam Loop
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| Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 3:20 pm Post subject: |
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| The bars in Itaewon used to run clear on down to samgakchi station, before the Korean defense department was there. The bars and the girls used to be either white or black, meaning these were the types of GI's they served. Lots of racial tension among GIs and among the girls who serviced each race. Girls needed a special "hooker id" just to enter the area. Hamilton Hotel was a free for all with naked Gis and gilrs running around stupid drunk in the hall ways. |
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Zyzyfer
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
Location: who, what, where, when, why, how?
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:12 am Post subject: |
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| Beej wrote: |
| The bars in Itaewon used to run clear on down to samgakchi station, before the Korean defense department was there. The bars and the girls used to be either white or black, meaning these were the types of GI's they served. Lots of racial tension among GIs and among the girls who serviced each race. Girls needed a special "hooker id" just to enter the area. Hamilton Hotel was a free for all with naked Gis and gilrs running around stupid drunk in the hall ways. |
That sounds like a party. All the way to Samgakji!!! |
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Pyongshin Sangja
Joined: 20 Apr 2003
Location: I love baby!
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| Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:43 am Post subject: |
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Buddha's Money
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Sueno and Bascom work the neon alleys of Itaewon - Seoul's supermarket of cheap thrills, where brightly painted girls promise a little piece of paradise in exchange for a few pieces of silver. But in Itaewon, the path to paradise can take some wicked turns.... Herman "the German" Burkowicz retired from the U.S. Army for a more lucrative career smuggling Korean artifacts. But the price of one such rarity may be paid by his kidnapped nine-year-old foster daughter, Mi-ja. Sueno and Bascom advise him to pay the ransom: a priceless skull carved out of jade. Working feverishly in a race against time, the two CID investigators discover that the coveted skull is much more than a hunk of jade: It's a long-lost relic of Genghis Khan. But more crucially, it's the key to the destiny of the entire Pacific Rim, from Beijing to Bangkok.
FROM THE CRITICS
Kirkus Reviews
Corporal George Sue��o and Sergeant Ernie Bascom, of the US Army's CID in South Korea, are up to their old tricks as loose cannons (Slicky Boys, 1997, etc.). What better way, they ask, "to defend against stupid rules?" On a typically frenetic night in suburban Seoul, their assignment is to work the black-market detail. Target: off-duty GIs swapping PX liquor for illicit sex. But suddenly all bets are off. "Something bad happen," says one of the "business girls," and willy-nilly Sue��o and Bascom are into their maverick mode. Improvising happily, they go chasing up back alleys after several large men of suspicious intent. Against orders? Of course, but that's what mavericks do to separate themselves from lesser men. And it's what makes Sue��o and Bascom the hotshot investigators they are—the Army's best, in their opinion. One mystery leads to another. They link a roughed-up Buddhist nun to the kidnaping of a little girl��which, in turn, is connected to the disappearance of a bizarre though priceless icon, which is being hotly pursued by several bloodthirsty factions. One of the pursuers is a Dragon Lady look-alike, whose focus on the icon is total, but who nevertheless manages to capture Sue��o's heart with her slinky figure, obligatory high cheekbones, and defiant black eyes. There are punch-outs, shoot-outs, and mindless action-adventure aplenty before all the cardboard bad guys meet deservedly bad ends. A fast-mover, hurtling from one violent/grisly scene to the next. There's little here, though, besides pace, to hold a reader��s attention. Gaudy and derivative.
CUSTOMER REVIEWS
Number of Reviews: 1 Average Rating:
Write your own online review! >
Showing 1-1
A reviewer ([email protected]), April 8, 2005,
Feels like a madcap 1950s serial movie
Twenty years have passed since the cease fire, but some things never change even when the demarcation line representing the front is not far away. For instance in the Itaewon red light district of Seoul, South Korea, the brass ��protects�� young soldiers from their own desires; Criminal Investigation Division Agents Corporal George Sueno and Sergeant Ernie Bascom are assigned to insure GIs do not barter liquor and cigarettes for sex................... However, Sueno and Bascom ignore the inane military rules; if a grunt wants to barter for local flavor they look the other way unless they perceive danger; that includes the 'business girls'. Thus when ally peddler Sooki tells them something bad happened, the twosome ignores duty and go into hero mode. They soon perceive a connection between thugs beating up a Buddhist nun and the kidnapping of nine year old Mi-ja, adopted daughter of former NCO Herman ��Father�� Burkowicz. That entangles the CID agents with the kidnapper��s quest to own a Ghengis Khan jade scull possessed by the self-anointed Queen of the Chinese Dragon Throne, who refuses all offers even violent ones............................ BUDDHA��S MONEY feels like a madcap 1950s serial movie as the two agents dash from one incident to another in their quest to bring justice not military law to the back allies of Seoul in the 1970s. The two mavericks are at their best beating up bad guys, but their opponents are two dimensional stereotypes from B movies. Still this action packed pulp thriller provides a fine look at Korea during a period when Viet Nam is the hot spot and containment is America��s foreign policy..................... Harriet Klausner
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Great old school reading for a hot summer's day.
I think this is Haebangcheon in the 1970's:
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