Bosan-dong, Dongducheon-si, Emerging as a City of Graffiti Art

The Bosan-dong Foreign Tourist Zone in Dongducheon-si, Gyeonggi Province, is establishing itself as the center of graffiti (street art) in South Korea. In particular, this year it was selected for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s ‘2024 Tourist Zone Revitalization Support Project’ and created street art works.

Bosan-dong Foreign Tourist Zone in Dongducheon City is establishing itself as the center of graffiti (street art) in South Korea. Photo by Dongducheon City

According to Dongducheon-si on the 17th, since 2015, street art works have been created on commercial buildings and subway overpasses within the Bosan-dong Foreign Tourist Zone, and currently about 20 works have been created, attracting many tourists who come to take photos.

Unlike typical murals, graffiti is a type of street art created by scratching or spraying paint onto walls or surfaces like doodles. Once considered part of vandalism, it has now established itself as a form of street art culture.

Domestic and international artists such as Christian Storm (Denmark), Choi Jin-hyun, So Soo-young, Jo Man-hee, and Kim Byung-in participated in the works created this time. The concept of the works was based on themes related to famous overseas musicians and culture.

A Dongducheon-si official said, “We will continue to create additional graffiti works to make Dongducheon the top graffiti city in Korea,” adding, “We will turn it into an art street to revitalize the local area.”