Mapo-gu Sangam-dong Restaurant Map 'Geoshellaeng Guide' Created

Mini booklet of 70 pages... Featuring 70 restaurants including Korean, Western, Japanese, and cafes in Sangam-dong old town area

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] This year, the staff at the Sangam-dong Community Center found themselves worried. They often heard the complaints of nearby shop owners struggling, and with fewer tourists visiting Sangam-dong, they wanted to do something to revive the declining local commercial district. They believed that brainstorming together would generate better ideas than working alone, so they collaborated with the Seoul Business Agency to create the ‘Geoshelleng Guide,’ introducing hidden gourmet spots in Sangam-dong.

Mapo-gu (District Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) produced the ‘Geoshelleng Guide,’ a map of Sangam-dong’s best restaurants, in partnership with the Seoul Business Agency (CEO Jang Young-seung) to revitalize the economy of the old town area of Sangam-dong.

Sangam-dong in Mapo-gu consists of an old town area that developed naturally and a planned new town area, but since the cultures and living zones of the two areas differ, a connecting link was needed.

Moreover, due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the influx of domestic and foreign tourists decreased, dealing a blow to the local economy, which prompted the staff at the Sangam-dong Community Center to start considering solutions.

As a result, they focused on the fact that Sangam-dong is rich in local resources, with many leading companies, media outlets, and broadcasting stations concentrated there, and decided to collaborate with the Seoul Business Agency located in the area to produce a gourmet guidebook.

The Seoul Business Agency gladly accepted Sangam-dong’s proposal to promote a public-private partnership project as part of the ‘DMC-type Governance Project’ (a regional landmark project through stepwise linkage of tangible resources within DMC).

Through this process, the ‘Geoshelleng Guidebook’ was finally born, a portmanteau of the world’s most prestigious restaurant guide ‘Michelin’ and ‘Geoiniji,’ a combination of the giant digital signage operated by the Seoul Business Agency in Sangam-dong.

The newly produced ‘Geoshelleng Guidebook’ features a total of 70 gourmet spots in Sangam-dong’s old town area, categorized into Korean, Western, Chinese, Japanese cuisines, cafes, and franchises.

The featured restaurants were mainly selected based on places frequently visited by Sangam-dong residents and office workers, and include honest user reviews, making it both interesting and fresh. In addition to user experiences, the guidebook is packed with valuable information about the restaurants.

A total of 1,000 copies of the guidebook, about 70 pages in a mini-book format, will be distributed at locations such as the Sangam-dong DMC Promotion Center.

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “I deeply feel the struggles of merchants due to the local economy shrinking from COVID-19. Although it may not be a great help, we will continue to discover various public-private partnership projects to provide some support.”