Korea’s Insadong: Cookies and Culture

Filed as: Korea and Culture // Responses: 2

A couple of weekends ago we went to Insadong in Seoul to do a bit of Christmas shopping and soak in some culture. Yes, we do have to do Christmas shopping this early (because shipping stuff overseas will take a long time). It’s a really interesting neighborhood as it combines both traditional and modern Korea. The video we made was of the most touristy area; a long cobblestone street lined with shops and selling all types of traditional Korea goods. Clothing, ceramics, tea, handmade paper, artwork, jewelry, calligraphy supplies, art supplies, linens, fans, hats, and delicious street snacks. If you’re visiting Korea on vacation, this is the place to go for some great souvenirs. If you follow the street until it ends and cross the road to a smaller less busy street you will find the real jewel of Insadong. A special area filled with gorgeous coffee shop and clothing stores, all oozing with their own personality. As you continue to snoop around the area, you’ll find the houses have be rebuilt to look like traditional Korean homes, but these houses cost millions! It is a gorgeous neighbourhood and you’re guarantied to get some amazing pictures. We’ll post another video about this area when we get the chance, but for now, check out Insadong’s best shopping zone here.

For now, actually, we actually have TWO VIDEOS. The first is a montage of what Insadong looks like, including its streets, its signs, its musicians, and its robots. The second is a clip from Insadong that we had to make into a movie entirely of its own. There are a few booths around Insadong with a couple of guys making and selling cookies. While they make these cookies they talk in three different languages and explain what’s going on (in this case, Japanese and English for us Japanese and English tourists). It’s really quite cool, so we included the movie as well.

Insadong Cookie Makers

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zeroe
This place was much more traditional and unique until about 5-6 years ago. It still is- but as more and more people come here and get interested, it's been changing slowly.. that huge Ssamji building on the main street is a good example. They never had a big building like that.
For people like me who loved insadong and samchungdong 10 years ago.. it's scary.
csr19us
This is one of my regrets of when I went there in 2006… not getting video of these guys making tasty stuff. Sure they are selling, but still fascinating!