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Itaewon
Sign in to saveItaewon (; ) is a commercial area within the Itaewon-dong neighborhood of Yongsan District in Seoul, South Korea, known for its nightlife and multi-ethnic population.
Key facts
- Settlement.name
- Itaewon
- Settlement.translit_lang1
- Korean
- Settlement.translit_lang1_type
- Hangul
- Settlement.translit_lang1_info
- 이태원
- Settlement.translit_lang1_type1
- Hanja
- Settlement.translit_lang1_info2
- Itaewon
- Settlement.translit_lang1_info3
- It'aewŏn
- Settlement.image_skyline
- Itaewon 2.jpg
- Settlement.image_caption
- Itaewon food street, December 2022
- Settlement.pushpin_map
- South Korea Seoul
- Settlement.subdivision_type
- Country
- Settlement.subdivision_name
- South Korea
- Settlement.subdivision_type2
- City
- Settlement.subdivision_name2
- Seoul
- Settlement.subdivision_type3
- District
- Settlement.subdivision_name3
- Yongsan District
- Settlement.subdivision_type4
- Neighborhood
- Settlement.subdivision_name4
- Itaewon-dong
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
11 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Local attractions
- Incidents
- COVID-19 outbreak
- 2022 crowd crush
- In popular culture
- Transportation
- See also
- References
- External links
Itaewon (; ) is a commercial area within the Itaewon-dong neighborhood of Yongsan District in Seoul, South Korea, known for its nightlife and multi-ethnic population.
==Etymology== "Itaewon" is derived from the name of an inn located there during the Joseon period. Today, the name alludes to the area's abundance of pear trees (梨泰院). According to a folktale, Itaewon was written using different Hanja characters that hinted at foreign babies (異胎院). When the Japanese invaded Seoul (1592–1593) during the Imjin War, a group of Japanese soldiers seized a Buddhist temple in what is now Itaewon, where Buddhist nuns lived. They proceeded to rape them and subsequently burned the temple. The homeless nuns settled nearby and eventually gave birth. People from neighboring villages named the area where the children were raised Itaewon in a portmanteau of terms meaning "different", "foreign", and "fetus". During the war, this was also where wounded and surrendered Japanese soldiers (이타인/異他人) were allowed to live.