There are a lot of buildings and apartments when you walk around the Han River and look around. Excluding the ridges of Mt. I hope that the Bukhansan Mountain is not covered by the building. When you escape from the Han River, the scenery of the low world, which was hidden in the big building, unfolds. The sidewalk block is stuck like a ruler and the square sign is dizzy.

Flyers such as lodging, rent, charter, and Gosiwon are posted on the alleys of a university town. Alleys with a high smell of people are better than the monotony of building forests. Suddenly, memories of Munrae-dong are revived. "Jiing ~" The sound of iron splitting, the mural on the alleyway that you don't know who drew it, the dazzling Daegutang ... , I looked back on the journey.

From Exit 2 of Munrae Station on the Seoul Subway Line 2, go straight for about 200m, and there is a junction of 128 roads between Dangsan-ro and Dorim-ro. You can easily find direction signs and signs related to the Munrae Art Village in the vicinity. Based on Dorim-ro 128-gil, the high-rise building area and the low-rise building area have different atmospheres. This itinerary is a course that walks around the area with mostly low buildings.

Munrae-dong is a place where the relationship with the factory deepened as a spinning factory entered during the Japanese occupation. At that time, the spinning machine was called 'Mullae', and the place's name, 'Moonrae-dong' was said to have been established. Since then, steel factories and iron statues have been concentrated here, and now artists are flocking to this place, where art and ironworks coexist.

Walking using the map app on your smartphone is only in the early stages. If you see an alley next to the ironworks, you can go through the other side and enter the alley again. Even if you go back to the alley you came from, the fun is more intense than the embarrassment.

Outside the alleys, murals are drawn without any rules or entanglements in a space where the proper words do not come up. It might be an unexpected scenery. Whenever I walk down an alley and turn my body toward the bent, I can feel like stopping at this sudden stop several times. It would be okay to call it a museum without a roof.

It would not be an order to skip the story of the past where there could be a current Munrae-dong and take it in an alley atmosphere. Let's take a brief look at the past years here. Seoul's old industrial complex is a trace of modernization, where the industry began to prefer treatment over agriculture. In the 70s, where factories were more concentrated than now, Munrae-dong was a world of workers, machinery and iron. So far, the scenery of the world remains in every corner of the alley. On top of that, someone drew a brush and colored it. It would be a moment when the artist's hand began to transform into a unique neighborhood rather than a common neighborhood in Seoul.

If you listen a little to the back of the mural, you can hear the harsh breath and the smell of sweat. The energy of iron that fills the alley, "Jieing ~" The creepy sound of iron grinding "Bang!" The sound of heavy iron bumps through the alley without even attempting it. It is a space where wild nature and weeds coexist.

On the one side of a sunny alley, the clothes are roughly lined with wrinkles left over from the woven traces. The color of the clothes has faded, and the cotton gloves are open to seams. There is a shabby pajeon in the corner of the alley. Makgeolli here would have cooled the night of those who spent the day hot with iron.

How did Moonrae-dong, the mecca of the steel industry, now become famous for the Moonrae Art Village? In the late 80s and early 90s, Munrae-dong was one of the most serious areas of air pollution in Korea. In line with this period, the city of Seoul attempted to move the steel sales districts around Munrae-dong and Dorim-dong to the outskirts. Since then, the steel industry in Munrae-dong has gradually declined and the number of vacancy has increased. Around the same time, artists who were looking for inexpensive work spaces began to fill the empty spaces here. Currently, there are about 100 workshops in Munrae-dong and about 200 artists are active, but the issue of redevelopment is said to be reducing the scope of the artist's activity as it reaches the Moonrae-dong.

Based on the Yangnam Intersection, let's turn to the northeast block and then cross the southeast block. Mural paintings are also painted on the backside of the post office in Munrae-dong and in a dense alleyway. In some murals, the feeling was so intense that I had to look for a while, and in some murals, I felt like a graffiti on my desk as a child. While looking at the murals, each element of the alleyway approaches meaningfully. The atmosphere of this place, such as green water flowing over cement, broken tiles, and small simple doors, has a rather rough texture.

My heart gets eaten before I press the camera shutter. The scenery that came into my eyes through the viewfinder was like the wrinkles of the swings that happened again even though I lived and wasted. . Nevertheless, the reason to remember Munrae-dong with warmth and brightness is that a child with a smile and a light step was holding flowers in a mural, and the door in the mural painting the village was wide open.

There is a Daegutang specialty store (Moonrae Daegutang) to decorate the beauty of this journey by going west from Munrae Post Office and crossing the southwest block of the Mullae Park intersection. The moon tastes like Daegu and Munrae Daegu-tang, which were in season when Munrae-dong was suddenly remembered. The menu that the reporter enjoys is Daegu Gonitang, which has spicy soup and hearty Goni.

How long it has been since I pledged the New Year's pledge, my feelings have faded and aesthetically pleasing. As I walk in the Han River Dunchi, I hope that the space of coexistence of iron and art and workers and artists in the Mullae Art Village will continue to look like the hope of continuing to see the Bukhansan Mountain.

1. It is good to use weekends and holidays when iron workshops and steel malls are closed. On the day off, you can see the pictures drawn on the shutters that fall down, and it's more suitable for weekends than on weekdays for leisurely walking around.
2. If you want to put a mural on a narrow alley, take a wide-angle lens. Smartphones with a panorama function are also useful.
3. You can access information related to artists' exhibitions and events at nearby cafes.

1.Access

* Self-driving

Yeomui-daero IC of Olympic-daero (To Yeongdeungpo Rotary) → Yeongdeungpo Station → Munrae-dong Intersection (turn right to Yanghwadaegyo Bridge, Yangnamseo Street) → Yangnam Intersection

* public transport

Seoul Subway Line 2 Munrae Station Exit 7 → Go straight 200m → Munrae Art Village

2. Delicious

Mullae Daegutang: Daegutang, 02-2633-5529
English / Japanese style: Kalguksu, 02-2636-9817
Garlic Whole Chicken: Whole Chicken, 02-2637-3480

3.Accommodation

M Hotel: Yeouido-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, 02-783-2271
Petra Hotel Motel: Yeongdeungpo-dong 3-ga, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul 02-2631-6686
Yeongdeungpo Tourist Hotel: 02-2678-4265, Dangsan-dong 5-ga, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul
Sejong Motel: Yangpyeong-dong 1-ga, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, 02-2633-2838

※ The information above was created in February 2013, and may change later, so be sure to check it before you travel.
※ Information, such as text, photos, and videos used in this article, is copyrighted by the Korea Tourism Organization, and unauthorized use of the article is prohibited.