[One Day Ten Thousand Steps, One Day One Thousand Characters] Walking with the Alleyway Economist in Yeonhui-dong

'Economist of Alleyways' Professor Mo Jong-rin of Yonsei University Explores Yeonhui-dong
From Quiet, Old Residential Area to Hotspot Filled with Famous Cafes and Restaurants
Wide, Flat Terrain Without Hills... Walkable to Yeonnam, Hapjeong, Mangwon, etc.
Number of Alleyway Commercial Districts Nationwide Increased from 80 to Over 200 in 5 Years

On the 21st, at Yeonhui-ro 11-gil in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. When asked to meet in an alley he often walks, Professor Mo Jong-rin (62) of Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies, known as the "Alleyway Economist," immediately replied, "Wait in front of Jeongeum Hardware." It is a hardware store visible just a few steps inside from the neighborhood landmark "Sareo Shopping Center" located on the main street. The site, which housed Jeongeum Electronics, a radio shop until the early 1990s, is now operated as a hardware curated shop of about fifteen pyeong (approximately 50 square meters). Various products and materials related to architecture and interior design, as well as electrical and tool products, are displayed and sold here, but from the outside, it looks like the starting point and information center for a Yeonhui-dong alley tour.

Professor Mo, who lives in Yeonhui-dong, said he often strolls through every nook and cranny of the alleys near his home whenever he has time. On the day we met, he chose a course starting from Yeonhui-ro 11-gil on the west side of Yeonhui-ro, which runs through the center of Yeonhui-dong. Until a dozen years ago, Yeonhui-dong was a quiet residential area, but now each alley hosts nationally famous bakery brands, forming hot spots. Professor Mo knew everything about the menus, store interiors, and the typical customers of hidden eateries nestled between alleys and famous bakery cafes like "Paul & Polina" and "Vincenne." From clothing stores and furniture curated shops remodeled from ordinary houses to spaces where one can browse and learn hobbies like knitting, there are shops that go beyond simply eating, drinking, or shopping to offer hobby activities and new cultural content experiences.

Professor Mo said, "Walking through alleys like this is not only exercise but also entertaining because there is so much to see on both sides of the alley that you lose track of time. It’s fun to discover new shops that weren’t there just a week ago. Because it’s always changing, walking the same path never gets boring, and even walking for a long time is not tiring at all."

Professor Mo Jong-rin of Yonsei University walked around Yeonhui-dong in Seoul with a reporter and talked about the past and present of Yeonhui-dong Street. He is sitting on a bench at Caf? Vencenne, which opened in the early days when Yeonhui-dong became famous. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

When President Yoon Suk-yeol visited Yeonhui-dong as a candidate in June 2021, Professor Mo explained the alleyway commercial district not just as a place of popular eateries or hot spots but as a new ecosystem of local industry, arguing that revitalizing the local economy based on this is a new alternative for our economy. He explained, "There are many success factors for local businesses, such as cultural resources, stable rents, and entrepreneurship, but above all, cultural resources and the local identity formed through them are the most important."

He added, "Alley culture is spreading nationwide in Korea, and in Seoul, Gangnam in the south and Hongdae in the north each form their own Gangnam culture and Hongdae culture, competing with each other. This atmosphere is distinctly different from the bustling areas typically formed around academy districts in new town apartment complexes."

Another reason Yeonhui-dong is good for walking is that it is flat. Among residential neighborhoods with local culture in Seoul, areas like Seongbuk-dong, Pyeongchang-dong, and Hannam-dong mostly have steep hills and isolated structures. It is rare to find a large flat area like Yeonhui-dong where detached houses are integrated with general commercial districts. Professor Mo usually starts from Yeonhui-dong and walks about 4 km along Donggyo-ro, passing underpasses in Yeonnam-dong and Mangwon-dong, observing how similar yet slightly different commercial districts from nearby Sinchon to Hongdae, Hapjeong, and Yeonnam develop their own identities and change.

Located at the entrance of Yeonhui-dong, Sareoga Shopping Center has been standing here since 1965. The photo on the upper left shows its current appearance, and the one on the right shows its early days. This photo was posted by Sareoga Shopping Center in 2021 to celebrate its 56th anniversary. Jackson Chameleon (photo below left), a single-family house converted into a furniture store, and Paul & Polina (photo below right), a landmark bakery in the neighborhood, are also famous spots in Yeonhui-dong.

Yeonhui-dong, which once seemed somewhat stagnant along with the preference for apartments, saw an increase in floating population and housing demand after 2010, prompting a professional real estate development and leasing company called "Kuum Partners" to join in commercial district development. They remodeled existing houses into commercial spaces and directly attracted famous shops. Professor Mo explained, "They don’t just build buildings; they plan the buildings considering which shops to relocate, so overall rents remain stable and vacancies are almost nonexistent."

For Professor Mo, who has been researching and analyzing alleyway commercial districts nationwide for years, research is also about walking on foot. Even nowadays, he visits new commercial districts around the country once a week for field exploration, often arriving one or two hours early to check the surrounding area in person. When he published his book "Capitalism of Alleyways" in 2017, there were about 30 alleyway commercial districts in Seoul and 50 nationwide; by 2021, this number had grown to 160, and now it has increased to around 200. Professor Mo said, "There is no systematic statistical data on the current status of alleyway commercial districts yet, so I determine whether a place qualifies as an alleyway commercial district based on my own criteria. If there are core businesses like coffee shops, independent bookstores, guesthouses, bakeries, small business owners who can create alley culture, and abundant cultural resources, it can be considered a creative commercial district with potential for future development."