Episode 363 of A Walk Around the Neighborhood takes viewers to Namchon — once Bukchon’s counterpart and known as a village of Joseon-era scholars — and to present-day Hoehyeon-dong, the alleys behind Seoul Station, and Jungnim-dong, neighborhoods steeped in modern history.
Namdaemun Market draws about 300,000 visitors a day, including tourists from abroad. After 600 years, it’s Korea’s quintessential traditional market — a place where you can find almost anything. Neighborhood host Lee Man-gi plunges into the lively crowds, and the episode sparks extra joy when he unexpectedly runs into a familiar face.
Seoullo 7017, the elevated linear park repurposed from the old Seoul Station overpass, leads west into Jungnim-dong. Tucked among small, long-standing shops we discovered a cozy tteok mill that also runs a café. Owner Oh Se-eon, 73, has been making tteok for 36 years. His garaetteok (cylindrical rice cakes) star in a nostalgic, broth-style tteokbokki that’s perfect for anyone chasing comforting, memory-filled flavors. We visit Oh’s warm, twilight workshop where he crafts his heartfelt tteokbokki.
Jungnim-dong is a seamless mix of old and new. There we met a boutique workshop that diagnoses individual skin types and handcrafts personalized cosmetics. Owner Ko Jae-chul left his advertising career in his 50s to earn a perfumer’s certificate and take the national exam for cosmetic formulators. As a father with a daughter in her prime, his decision to quit a steady job shocked his family at first, but he vowed to prove himself through hard work. Today he’s a supported husband and dad who says having a family to protect made him more determined and helped him launch this second act. We visit his studio, where he hopes to be a positive example for fathers in their 50s across Korea.
Hoehyeon-dong, the backdrop for Namchon, hides a network of alleys along Namsan’s slopes that have been revived as the Namsan Old Trail. We meet Chu Chang-seok and his wife, who have run a traditional pleating shop for women’s skirts for 36 years, and hear their stories. At the trail’s summit stands Hoehyeon No. 2 Citizen Apartment, built in 1970 as the country’s first model apartment complex. Once dubbed a celebrity building, it now has fewer than 20 households and faces imminent demolition. Walking the Namsan Old Trail, we rediscover Seoul’s quieter charms.
On a little corner in a Hoehyeon-dong alley, one shop has captured the hearts — and taste buds — of both tourists and locals with its donuts. Standouts include a K-donut made with Korea’s fermented soybean paste, doenjang, and a dairy-free vegan donut that offers a unique texture and a gentle, easy-to-digest flavor. With no big marketing push, word of mouth turned this place into a must-visit for domestic and international visitors. The neighborhood host stops by the young owner’s sweet shop to taste the buzz-worthy treats.
We visit Sungnyemun, commonly known as Namdaemun, National Treasure No. 1 and the southern gate of the Hanyang Fortress that once protected the capital. The Joseon-era guard duty ritual is still reenacted here, and Lee Man-gi joins the ceremony for a spirited encounter with the guards.
Jungnim Market formed when long-standing vendors chose not to relocate when a new fish market opened in Noryangjin in the 1970s. For 45 years, Ahn Young-ja’s seolleongtang — a beef-bone soup — fed her family and regulars. Her version is known for a clear, refined broth that pairs perfectly with her house-made kkakdugi (cubed radish kimchi). After the founding owner passed away four years ago, her youngest son, Kim Kyung-ho, now welcomes longtime customers. Kyung-ho grew up helping at the restaurant and, despite his mother’s early objections, vowed to carry on the family business. He keeps his mother’s flavors alive to honor the final request she left him.
The Hoehyeon Underground Arcade sells vintage finds like vinyl records and stamps. Inside, a knitting shop overflows with scrubbers, small trinkets, and handmade bags. Owner Lee Jeong-ja has been knitting for an astonishing 80 years and has run this stall in the arcade for 30 years. She learned to knit at six and once wore her own creations to school, earning a reputation as a prodigy. Her skill even attracted orders from Japan, and she traveled there frequently in her younger days. Twenty years ago her son Jeong Hyun-ho and daughter-in-law Na Kyung-jin joined the workshop, and the three of them now knit together as a family. In a rapidly changing Seoul, this family preserves tradition by practicing their craft with deliberate, unhurried care.
This journey through old-yet-new neighborhoods in Seoul airs Saturday, March 28, 2026, at 7:10 p.m. in episode 363, Old and New — Hoehyeon-dong and Jungnim-dong, Seoul, bringing these streets and stories into viewers’ living rooms.
