Haebangchon & Gyeongridan-gil: Refugee Hill to Rooftops

Haebang means liberation. The village on the southern slope of Namsan got its name in the years after 1945, when Koreans coming home from Japan and Manchuria, and then refugees from the North, pitched tents on a hillside nobody else wanted. Today the same hillside has rooftop cafés with a view of N Seoul Tower, a tiny kitchen cooking the food of northeast Thailand, and a market whose rent was frozen by agreement to keep it from turning into one more luxury strip.

At the bottom of the hill is Gyeongridan-gil, the street that gave Korea the suffix “-ridan-gil.” It boomed, emptied out, and is now quietly coming back.

Why is it called Haebangchon?

Because it was built by people coming home after liberation. Seoul city describes Haebangchon as a settlement formed after 1945 for displaced people and Koreans returning from overseas, followed by refugees from the North during and after the Korean War. They built on the slope below Namsan, much of it land that had been used by the Japanese military.

The refugees’ history is still visible if you know where to look. Haebang Church stands at the entrance to the village. Hansin Onggi, a pottery shop at the top of Huam-dong that Seoul city says has been there since 1967, still sells the big earthenware jars every household once used for kimchi and soy sauce. And at Le Montblanc, the dessert café at the market’s edge, one of the mousse cakes is shaped like a ball of yarn: a joke about the neighborhood’s knitting past.

---

How did Gyeongridan-gil get its name?

From an army finance unit. The street that runs uphill from Noksapyeong toward Namsan is officially Hoenamu-ro. At its foot is the base of the Army’s central finance corps, the 경리단 gyeongnidan, which according to Korean media was merged into the Armed Forces Financial Management Corps in 2012. Locals called the road “the gyeongnidan street,” and when restaurants catering to the foreigners and young Seoulites of nearby Itaewon started filling it in the late 2000s, the nickname went national.

According to Korean business press, the name first appeared in the media around 2009 and peaked around 2013. Then something odd happened: other neighborhoods started borrowing the suffix. Mangwon-dong got “Mangridan-gil,” Songpa got “Songridan-gil,” Gyeongju got “Hwangridan-gil,” and the press counted more than 20 “-ridan-gil” streets nationwide after 2016. Our guide to Seoul’s emerging neighborhoods covers one of the latest, Yongridan-gil near Samgakji.

The original paid the price. Rents and key money spiked, small shops left, and by the late 2010s Gyeongridan-gil had become the standard Korean example of gentrification. The pandemic emptied it further. What has survived is small and a little eccentric: a live-music bar, a graphic-novel bookshop where the entry fee includes unlimited drinks, a coffee roaster. For neighborhood-level sales figures, see Itaewon in 2026: what came back.

---

Where to eat in Haebangchon

Most of the eating is in and around Sinheung Market, a U-shaped loop of small shops under a translucent canopy roof at the top of the village. Seoul city recounts that it grew out of the refugee settlement and took its brick-and-slate form in the 1960s; it was once the knitters’ market, and our history of Seoul’s shantytowns explains how it became a sightseeing stop. Prices and hours below are from Naver Place, checked October 1, 2026.

Pad Ka Paw (Sinheung-ro 97-6, 2F, inside Sinheung Market) — A tiny Isan Thai kitchen up a staircase in the market. The name dish, pad kaprao (stir-fried pork with holy basil over rice), was 15,000 won in recent listings; tom yum and som tam papaya salad are on the menu too. Open daily 12:00–21:00 with a 15:00–17:00 break. It’s small; expect a wait at dinner.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Decalcomania (Sinheung-ro 97-4, 1F, inside Sinheung Market) — The market’s busiest table, with a menu that mixes Korean ingredients into bistro cooking: cod glazed with Uiseong garlic and honey, spinach-basil pesto pasta, sous-vide pork neck. Open 11:00–21:00, with a break from 14:30 or 15:00 to 17:00. It has more than 3,000 Naver reviews, so weekend waits are normal.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Le Montblanc (Sinheung-ro 99-4) — A mousse-cake café with a rooftop. The teolsil (yarn) mousse, shaped like a ball of wool, is the neighborhood’s knitting history turned into dessert; it was 9,500 won in recent listings. Open 12:00–19:00 Tuesday to Thursday and until 20:00 on Friday and Sunday; closed Mondays.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Ilmijip (Huam-ro 1-1) — An old-school gamjatang house at the bottom of the hill in Huam-dong, the right start before the climb. Pork backbone simmered with potatoes and greens: the gamjatang lunch set is 10,000 won, a small pot for sharing 23,000 won, and you finish with fried rice in the pot for 2,000 won.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Egg & Flour (Sinheung-ro 26-gil 35) — The one place in Haebangchon to dress up for. Chef Kim Hee-eun, known in Korea from the cooking competition Culinary Class Wars, makes fresh pasta by hand; the Michelin Guide lists it. Recent prices were around 27,000–30,000 won a plate. Open 12:00–22:00 with a 15:00–17:30 break. Reserve for dinner, and ask for the terrace with the Namsan view.

📍 Open in Naver Map

🍽️ Ten more places in Haebangchon and on Gyeongridan-gil (Naver Place, Oct 2026)

Place	What	Price guide	Hours / closed	Map
Haebangchon Dak	Herbal-roasted whole chicken in the market; perilla-oil buckwheat noodles	Chicken 23,000 / noodles 10,000 won	Field check	📍 Open in Naver Map
Nogari Gongjang	Old-school draft beer and grilled dried pollock	Cheap	From 16:00 (weekends 15:00) to 01:00, closed Tue	📍 Open in Naver Map
Cueva Matera	Cave-like café inside the market; einspänner, cheesecake	Field check	10:30–19:00 (weekends to 20:00)	📍 Open in Naver Map
Villa Coffee Bar	Basque cheesecake with a Namsan view	~8,300 won	12:00–20:00 (Sun 11:00–21:00), closed Mon	📍 Open in Naver Map
Neighbors	Three-level brunch spot and rooftop bar	Shakshuka ~21,000 won	11:00–23:00, closed Tue–Wed	📍 Open in Naver Map
Oeat	Four-floor café with a rooftop; kaymak and honey	~15,000 won	12:00–22:00	📍 Open in Naver Map
Bonnie’s Pizza Pub	New York-style pizza and imported beer, here since 2012	Field check	From 12:30 (weekends 11:30), closed Mon	📍 Open in Naver Map
Dodongjip	Huam-dong noodle house: house noodles, bulgogi pajeon	Noodles 10,000 won	Field check	📍 Open in Naver Map
Graphic	Graphic-novel bookshop on the Gyeongridan side; entry includes unlimited drinks	20,000 won (10,000 after 20:00)	Field check	📍 Open in Naver Map
Kenya Kiambu Coffee	Small roaster off Gyeongridan-gil	Field check	09:30–21:30 (Sun 10:00–21:00)	📍 Open in Naver Map

Vegan travelers: Haebangchon also has byTOFU and a Plant bakery, both covered in our vegan restaurants guide.

---

A half-day route: Huam-dong to Gyeongridan-gil

• 12:00 — Lunch in Huam-dong. Gamjatang set at Ilmijip or noodles at Dodongjip (Sookmyung Women's Univ. Station, Line 4, is the nearest subway).
• 13:00 — Walk up to Haebangchon's entrance. Haebang Church and Hansin Onggi pottery.
• 13:30 — The 108 Stairs. Climb or ride the inclined elevator up toward the village.
• 14:00 — Sinheung Market. Coffee at Cueva Matera, then a loop of the market under the canopy.
• 16:30 — Rooftop. Le Montblanc, Villa Coffee Bar or Oeat as the light drops over Namsan.
• 17:30 — Dinner. Pad Ka Paw or Decalcomania when they reopen, or Egg & Flour if you booked.
• 19:30 — Down to Gyeongridan-gil (15–20 minutes downhill). A drink, a bookshop, and Noksapyeong Station (Line 6) at the bottom.