What was life like in 1930s Seoul? Discover Gyeongseong’s trams, department stores, modern fashion, divided neighborhoods, and the colonial history behind its glamorous streets in K-Dramas.
Imagine walking through Seoul in the 1930s. Streetcars rattle past people dressed in traditional Korean clothing, while fashionable young women browse the windows of Western-style department stores. Just a few streets away, workers carry heavy loads on their backs, and women wash clothes by the water.
This was Gyeongseong, the name used for Seoul during Japanese colonial rule (1910–1945).
As new buildings, transportation, and entertainment transformed the city, not everyone benefited equally. Behind the fashionable streets was a society shaped by colonial power, economic inequality, and the struggle to preserve Korean identity.
So what was everyday life really like in 1930s Seoul, and how much of the city depicted in historical K-Dramas reflects reality?
Everyday Life in 1930s Seoul: Streetcars, Department Stores, and Traditional Hanbok
Walking through Gyeongseong in the 1930s would have felt like stepping between two different eras.
Near Namdaemun, Seoul’s historic southern gate, automobiles, bicycles, and handcarts shared the roads. Men wearing Western suits passed others dressed in hanbok, traditional Korean clothing, sometimes accompanied by a gat, a traditional Korean hat. Even with modern vehicles on the streets, workers still relied on the jige, a wooden A-frame carrier worn on the back to transport heavy loads.
Meanwhile, the city’s shopping districts were embracing a new consumer culture.
In 1930, the Japanese-owned Mitsukoshi Department Store opened a large new building on the site of today’s Shinsegae Department Store Main Branch in Myeongdong. In Jongno, the Korean-owned Hwashin Department Store unveiled its new building in 1937, complete with elevators, escalators, neon signs, and a rooftop garden.
Department stores offered more than shopping. Their displays, restaurants, and unfamiliar technologies made them attractions in their own right.
Young people who embraced Western fashion and modern lifestyles became known as Modern Boys and Modern Girls. Tailored suits, dresses, bobbed hairstyles, cafés, and movie theaters reflected the changing tastes of urban society.
The Japanese commercial district around present-day Myeongdong and Chungmuro was especially associated with modern shopping and entertainment. Yet its glamorous atmosphere did not represent life throughout colonial Korea, especially as wartime controls intensified later in the decade.
Around Cheonggyecheon Stream, traditional fabric shops and herbal medicine stores existed alongside barbershops and modern restaurants. Many residents continued working and managing their households in familiar ways even as the city changed around them.
Gyeongseong was not a city where traditional Korean life suddenly disappeared. It was a place where old customs and new lifestyles existed side by side, often separated by wealth and social status.
Two Sides of Gyeongseong: Why Were Bukchon and Namchon So Different?
To understand everyday life in colonial Seoul, it helps to look at the geography of the city.
The area north of Cheonggyecheon Stream, known as Bukchon, was predominantly Korean. Farther south, Namchon, encompassing areas around present-day Myeongdong and Chungmuro, had a substantial Japanese population.
This division developed long before the 1930s. Japanese merchants had established communities near the northern slopes of Namsan beginning in the late nineteenth century. Over time, colonial administration and commercial development reinforced differences between the neighborhoods.
In 1934, Koreans accounted for approximately 70.5% of Gyeongseong’s population, while Japanese residents made up about 28%. Yet population numbers alone reveal little about how differently these communities experienced the city.
Japanese commercial districts benefited from concentrated investment in shops, roads, and urban infrastructure. Many Korean neighborhoods, meanwhile, struggled with overcrowding and inadequate facilities. Access to running water and sanitation depended heavily on where people lived and what they could afford.
One particularly revealing location is today’s Namsangol Hanok Village near Chungmuro. Visitors now associate it with traditional Korean houses and cultural experiences. During Japanese colonial rule, however, the site was occupied by a Japanese military police headquarters.
Its location near the southern side of the old city also reflects how colonial military facilities became part of Seoul’s urban landscape.
The colonial government introduced the Joseon Urban Planning Ordinance in 1934 and expanded Gyeongseong’s urban planning area in 1936. These measures supported new development, but they did not immediately eliminate the existing inequalities in housing and public services.
Cheonggyecheon was therefore more than a stream running through the city. The neighborhoods around it revealed how modernization could produce very different living conditions for people sharing the same capital.
The Beautiful Gyeongseong in K-Dramas—and the Colonial History Behind It
Historical K-Dramas can make Gyeongseong look captivating, with elegant clothing, Western-style buildings, and sophisticated urban streets.
One of the clearest examples is Gyeongbokgung Palace.
Japan constructed the massive Government-General Building within the royal palace grounds, completing it in 1926. The building stood directly in front of the palace’s main ceremonial hall, visually asserting colonial authority over a major symbol of Korean sovereignty.
Gwanghwamun, the palace’s main gate, was also displaced from its original location in 1927.
The Government-General Building was eventually demolished in December 1996, following South Korea’s independence and decades of debate over the building’s legacy. Parts of the structure, including its central dome, were preserved and displayed at the Independence Hall of Korea in Cheonan.
Another reminder of this history is the woldae, the ceremonial platform in front of Gwanghwamun. Originally associated with royal ceremonies and public appearances, it was dismantled in the 1920s during work involving streetcar tracks. The platform was restored in 2023, allowing visitors to see an important part of the palace’s historical entrance once again.
Colonial symbols also appeared on Namsan. In 1925, the Japanese authorities completed Chosen Shrine, or Chōsen Jingū, near the area of today’s Namsan Library and Baekbeom Square. The Shinto shrine was associated with Japan’s efforts to promote loyalty to the emperor and assimilate Koreans into the empire. Its principal buildings were dismantled shortly after liberation in 1945.
Control over Korean identity intensified toward the end of the 1930s. Under the Third Joseon Education Ordinance of 1938, Japanese-language education became increasingly dominant, while Korean-language education was further restricted.
The elegant streets of historical dramas existed alongside these political and cultural pressures.
Closing
Gyeongseong in the 1930s was a city of contrasts. Streetcars, department stores, cafés, and theaters represented new possibilities, but their benefits were not shared equally.
For some residents, modern Seoul offered fashionable lifestyles and commercial opportunities. For others, everyday life meant difficult working conditions, inadequate housing, and restrictions imposed by colonial rule.
Today, places such as Myeongdong, Jongno, Namsangol Hanok Village, and Gyeongbokgung Palace offer glimpses into the city’s complicated past.
The next time you watch a K-Drama set in colonial Seoul, look beyond the beautiful costumes and architecture. Consider not only how the city was changing, but also who had the freedom and resources to enjoy those changes—and who did not.