Most people who know the name Seongmisan (성미산) know it from a policy paper or a sociology class, not a travel guide. Three decades ago, a handful of young parents in Mapo-gu pooled their money to run a daycare their own way. That daycare led to a food co-op, an alternative school, a radio station and a theater. Along the way, the parents stopped a city reservoir from being built on the hill behind their homes. The press named them the Seongmisan Village, and for a while Seoul’s mayor held them up as the model for the whole city.

Nothing here is staged for visitors, and that is why it is worth the trip. The village is a few ordinary blocks of low apartment buildings in Seongsan-dong, between Mangwon Station and Mapo-gu Office Station. It has a wooded hill you can loop before lunch, a civic building with a basement theater, and a run of honest, cheap neighborhood restaurants, from North Korean-style dumpling hotpot to barley bibimbap. Mangwon Market is a short walk away.

The short answer

  • Seongmisan Village traces its start to 1994, when parents opened Uri Eorinijip, which the village describes as Korea's first cooperative daycare. Seoul listed the village as Seoul Future Heritage in 2013.
  • Residents fought a city reservoir on the 66 m hill from 2001, and Seoul gave up the plan in October 2003. The alternative school opened in 2004 and the village theater in 2009.
  • It is a residential community: walk the streets and the hill freely, but stay outside daycares and the school and do not photograph people. Take Mangwon Station (Line 6) Exit 1.

How did a daycare co-op build a village?

It started with childcare, not with a plan to build a village. According to the village’s own chronology, a study group on cooperative childcare, or 공동육아 (gongdong yuga), began meeting in October 1993. In September 1994 it formally opened Uri Eorinijip (우리어린이집, “Our Daycare”), run as a cooperative by the parents. Seoul’s Future Heritage listing says it was started by young dual-income couples. The village still calls 1994 “the year the seed was planted.”

Weekly Kyunghyang notes that the first daycare was actually in neighboring Yeonnam-dong. The parents wanted nature play, no cram lessons and clean food. As their children grew, more daycares opened, then an after-school program. Next came a consumer co-op, or 생협 (saenghyeop), so the families could buy organic food together. Sources disagree on the exact year Mapo Dure co-op was founded, so the safest wording is 2000–01. The village chronology records its founding meeting in July 2000.

Seongmisan Village, from daycare to network

  • 1994: Uri Eorinijip opens as a parent-run cooperative daycare.
  • 2000–01: Mapo Dure consumer co-op is founded.
  • 2002: Dongne Buok (동네부엌, "neighborhood kitchen"), an organic side-dish shop, opens, according to the village.
  • 2004: Seongmisan School, an alternative school covering 12 grades, opens in September. An organic ice-cream shop opens in October and later becomes the village café, Jageun Namu ("Small Tree").
  • 2005–2007: Community radio Mapo FM goes on air, and the nonprofit Saram-gwa Maeul ("People and Village") is registered.
  • 2009: Seongmisan Village Theater opens in February.
  • 2013: Seoul lists the village as 서울미래유산 (Seoul Future Heritage).

On the ground today, the village is not one place but a network. Its own website describes about 70 large and small communities spread around the hill toward Seongsan 1-dong, Seongsan 2-dong, Mangwon-dong and Yeonnam-dong. Some are daycares, some are shared-housing projects, and others are an orchestra or a taekkyeon (martial art) school. When former mayor Park Won-soon launched Seoul’s citywide 마을공동체 (maeul gongdongche, “village community”) policy in 2012, the village became his favorite example. A 2015 Seoul Shinmun column noted that he cited it again and again.

How did residents save Seongmisan?

They spent two years protesting until Seoul shelved a planned reservoir on the summit in October 2003. The village says the city announced the reservoir, or 배수지 (baesuji), in 2001. In July that year residents formed a citizens’ group to protect the hill. In January 2003 they set up a countermeasures committee and started a tent sit-in on the slope.

According to a February 2003 Pressian report, crews felled about a thousand trees across the summit in two and a half hours that January. Seoul Shinmun reported that the city suspended the 25,000-ton reservoir on 16 October 2003 after a 100-day sit-in and about 250,000 signatures from Mapo residents. The village’s chronology calls it the city’s “declaration that it was giving up the project.” The campaign also gave the community its name: reporters called the protesters 성미산 지킴이 (Seongmisan jikimi, “guardians of Seongmisan”), and the place where they lived became “Seongmisan Village.”

The second fight did not end the same way. In 2008 the Hongik school foundation bought part of the hill to move its schools there. Residents protested and went to court. Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that about 1,000 of them lost their lawsuit in July 2011. The village’s own history describes this second campaign, from 2008 to 2011, plainly as a failure. Hongik University’s affiliated elementary school now stands at 51 Seongmisan-ro, on the hill’s flank.

The village’s history also describes what came next: a development boom and gentrification that pushed out many of the regular shops. The co-op café Jageun Namu fought a rent crisis in 2014–15 and later moved into the village hall. The village restaurant, Seongmisan Bapsang, closed in 2017. Dongne Buok said goodbye in 2018, and the secondhand shop Doesallim Gage closed in 2025 after 17 years. If you come looking for the co-op shops from older articles, most of them are gone. The daycares, the school and the theater are still running.

On the hill

  • Seoul city describes the paths as gentle and well maintained, with a barefoot path and foot-washing station, a natural spring and outdoor exercise equipment.
  • From the summit lookout you can see Bukhansan, Baengnyeonsan and Ansan on a clear day.
  • Seoul Shinmun put a full loop at 30–40 minutes. A 2013 park project refurbished a 1.2 km trail and planted more than 12,000 trees.
  • Sneakers are enough. This is a neighborhood walk, not a hike.

Can you visit Seongmisan Village?

Yes. The streets, the hill and the shops are public, but the village is somewhere people live and raise children, not a museum. Most of what makes it special happens behind closed doors: inside cooperative daycares, at the school, and in shared kitchens. Walk through, eat locally and keep your camera pointed at the trees.

Visiting etiquette

  • Residential community: keep your voice down in the alleys and do not enter daycares, the school grounds or shared-housing buildings.
  • No photos of people: the village asks visitors to avoid photographing residents, and that goes double for children.
  • Group tours are run by the village itself and must be booked at least two weeks ahead. They last about 30–40 minutes and pass the school, shared housing, the village café, the co-op and the neighborhood bookshop, all viewed from outside. Fees are listed on the village's tour page.
  • Village hall: 2 Seongmisan-ro 3-gil, about five minutes from Mangwon Station Exit 1, according to the village.

The one place you can actually go inside is the Seongmisan Village Theater (성미산마을극장), at Woldeukeop-ro 26-gil 39 in the basement of the civic building Simin Gonggan Naru. It is run by the Seongmisan Cultural Cooperative as a small stage for children’s and youth theater and resident productions, and its website advertises the 13th neighborhood theater festival. Check the schedule before you go. Lunchbox shop Osaek Omi Bapsang is on the ground floor of the same building.

Where to eat in Seongsan-dong

Eat on Woldeukeop-ro and the middle stretch of Seongmisan-ro, between Mangwon and Mapo-gu Office stations. Expect old dumpling and tofu houses, plus a couple of newer places locals queue for. Almost everything here costs ₩10,000–15,000 a head. The cafés at the low-number, southern end of Seongmisan-ro belong to the Yeonnam scene, which we cover in our Yeonnam cafés top 10.

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Manna Sikdang
North Korean-style dumpling hotpot in a clear broth, finished with porridge. ₩26,000 for two.
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Bori Ajimae
Barley bibimbap with seasonal greens and fermented soybean stew, around ₩10,000–11,000.
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Narangga
Bluefin tuna-belly sushi with a TV following. ₩34,000 for the signature set. Queue at opening.
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Keungomjari
Quiet early-opening café near the hill. Americano ₩3,500, egg-potato sandwich ₩4,800.

Manna Sikdang (만나식당): An old-style room, some of it floor seating, serving the big, mild dumplings of northern Korean cooking. Order the dumpling hotpot (만두전골): ₩26,000 for two, ₩39,000 for three. Finish with rice or porridge cooked in the leftover broth. A bowl of dumpling soup is ₩13,000. An August 2026 visitor recorded the hours as Monday to Saturday 11:00–22:00 with a 16:00–17:00 break, closed Sundays. It sits on Woldeukeop-ro between Mangwon and Mapo-gu Office stations.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Bori Ajimae (보리아지매): A bright, tidy Korean restaurant down the hill toward Mangwon. A July 2026 visitor described it as the kind of place where the owner moves a solo diner to a cooler seat. The house dish is barley bibimbap (꽁보리비빔밥): you mix seasonal vegetables and mashed tofu into barley rice with gochujang. Sets with boiled pork or skate salad are ₩15,000. There are also perilla kalguksu, potato-dumpling soup, millet pancakes and cheonggukjang (fermented soybean stew). Bloggers give the hours as 10:30–20:00, closed Wednesdays and Saturdays, so call ahead. It is at Seongmisan-ro 1-gil 74, reachable from Mapo-gu Office Exit 4.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Narangga (나랑가): The one place here with a waiting list. It is a small sushi counter that appeared on SBS’s craftsman show Saenghwal-ui Dalin and is built around bluefin tuna belly. The signature toro sushi set is ₩34,000, the fattier o-toro ₩40,000, and a mixed set ₩26,000. A limited “special toro” plate (₩44,000) usually sells out. Hours are 11:30–20:40 with a 14:40–17:00 break, and it closes early when the fish runs out. Visitors in 2026 recommend arriving 30 minutes before opening. It is at Seongmisan-ro 71.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Keungomjari (큰곰자리): A calm café on a side street near the forest center, Seongmisan-ro 11-gil 9. It is one of the few places open at 08:00 on weekdays, which makes it a good start before the hill. Americano is ₩3,500, the egg-and-potato sandwich ₩4,800, and there are herbal teas and ades made with Hadong plum syrup. Hours are Monday to Friday 08:00–18:00 and Saturday 10:00–18:00, closed Sundays.

📍 Open in Naver Map

🍲 More Seongsan-dong spots (prices from current menus or 2025–26 visits; check hours before you go)

PlaceWhat to orderPrice guideHours / closedNearest stationMap
Seongmidam (성미담)Dried-pollock soup, acorn-jelly rice₩10,000–11,00011:30–21:30, closed MonMapo-gu Office Exit 4📍 Naver Map
Hamcho Sondubu (함초손두부)Handmade soft tofu stew₩8,000–9,00011:00–21:30, break 16:00–17:00Mapo-gu Office📍 Naver Map
Seongsandong Kalguksujip (성산동칼국수집)Clam kalguksu, mung-bean pancake₩10,00011:00–20:30; Tue 11:00–15:00Mapo-gu Office📍 Naver Map
Bonjour Bapsang (봉쥬르밥상)Korean-beef seolleongtang, rice-cake soup₩12,00011:30–21:00, break 14:30–17:00Mangwon📍 Naver Map
Gunsan Jjim (군산찜)Spicy braised monkfish (share)From ₩40,00011:00–22:00Mapo-gu Office Exit 2📍 Naver Map
Pizza Spirit (피자 스피릿)8-inch margherita, house pizza₩8,800–13,80011:30–22:00Mapo-gu Office Exit 4📍 Naver Map
Osaek Omi Bapsang (오색오미 밥상)Seasonal lunchbox, in the theater buildingVaries; check on Naver10:00–18:00Mangwon📍 Naver Map
A-breezy Coffee (어브리지 커피)Almond-cream “mond latte”, cold brew₩3,000–4,00011:00–14:00 onlyMangwon📍 Naver Map
Biscuiterie San (비스퀴테리 산)Butter biscuits, almond florentinsCheck on Naver10:00–16:00; days varyHongik Univ. / Gajwa📍 Naver Map
Richemont Pâtisserie, Seongsan main store (리치몬드과자점 성산본점)Chestnut pie, cream puffs₩3,700–3,90008:00–22:00, closed TueHongik Univ. Exit 1📍 Naver Map

Ordering tips

  • Hotpot is priced per party, not per person. At Manna Sikdang, a two-person hotpot plus porridge at the end is plenty for two.
  • Bibimbap etiquette: at Bori Ajimae, add gochujang a little at a time. The tofu and greens are already seasoned.
  • Coffee timing: A-breezy serves only at lunch (11:00–14:00) and roasts in the afternoon. Keungomjari is your early option.
  • Biscuiterie San and Richemont are on Woldeukeopbuk-ro, a 15–20 minute walk north of the village. Treat them as a detour or a takeaway stop on the way back toward Hongdae.

Half-day route (hill + village + Mangwon Market)

Go on a weekday other than Monday, when several restaurants close and the village is at its normal, school-day pace. Allow about four to five hours.

If you would rather end the day with cafés than market food, head south instead along Seongmisan-ro into Yeonnam. Our Yeonnam cafés top 10 picks up where this guide stops.

Sources