Seongsu-dong & Seoul Forest
성수·서울숲
Why go
A neighborhood once full of shoe factories and warehouses that has turned into streets of cafes and pop-up stores, earning it the name 'the Brooklyn of Korea'. Stroll its red-brick alleys, then take a break in nearby Seoul Forest.
29.3%Share of foreign travelers to Seoul who visited the Seongsu-dong & Seoul Forest area — 2025 Seoul Tourism Survey (foreign visitors), places visited, multiple answers allowed
Highlights
History
Seongsu-dong (聖水洞) was originally a manufacturing neighborhood. A huge ready-mix concrete plant stood alongside shoe factories, ironworks and print shops, and handmade-shoe makers gathered here from the 1970s until they filled a whole street. As Seoul handed manufacturing over to other cities, the neighborhood lost its energy for a while.
Things started to change on June 18, 2005, when Seoul Forest opened on the site of a former water purification plant. In the early 2010s, Daelim Changgo, a cultural space made from a 1970s rice mill, drew attention, and other multi-use cultural spaces followed. Once builders could get part of their construction costs covered for using red brick, red-brick buildings increased noticeably after 2019.
Cafes, select shops and pop-up stores have moved in among auto repair shops, printing works and handmade-shoe workshops that are still in business. New cafes, bakeries and cultural spaces keep opening, so the streets look a little different every time you visit.
Getting there
- Line 2 Seongsu Station · Exit 3
- Line 2 Ttukseom Station · Exit 8
- Bundang Line Seoul Forest Station · Exit 3
서울특별시 성동구 연무장길 일대
Lot no. · 서울특별시 성동구 성수동
Where next
In these lists
Photos
Tips
- There is no parking on the cafe street. Each shop keeps its own hours, so come by subway.
Show details
- Address
- 서울특별시 성동구 연무장길 일대