Magok District on cruise mode

Since last January's focus ("Magok District: SIM City as in "Seoul Intra Muros"? Alleyways as in "Seoul Inter Muros"?"), Magok District has steadily made the headlines, most notably:

• Business: extension of the LG Science Park project (from 130 to 170,000 sqm, and from 20 to 30,000 Research and Development staff)

At the core of the business district project. New batches of lots are regularly being proposed.

 

• Environment: Seoul city announced for 2016 an eco park combining a lake with a 60,000 sqm urban botanical garden, in addition to wetlands

Forget about the costly and futuristic waterfront project. This ecosystem will host 5,000 species, and might draw researchers as well as tourists.

• Public spaces: selection of Wooridongjin Architects for Magok Central Plaza

A sunken plaza reaching across the street, hopefully more open than the Coex mall patio. Now the neighborhood also needs to care about pedestrians at street level, and this diagonal canal has an interesting potential.

• Commercial and service areas: Shinsegae just signed for a new site connected to the subway. Earlier, Ehwa Hospital confirmed the move from Dongdaemun Gate to Magok.

• Residential areas: emboldened by last July's successful launches, developers started a rather off-the-wall campaign for the new residential blocks (if the visuals are deja vu, you don't often see 'stupid' splashed on the headline of a real estate ad in this town):

The 3 dumb real estate investors: the one who doesn't know Magok, the one who knows Magok but is not interested, the one who knows Magok, is interested, but doesn't buy

 

 

•  ...

The new district is step by step completing its puzzle, leveraging on key assets: Seoul intra muros, the Gimpo airport connection, the DMC-Magok-Guro triangle..., and of course major public transit infrastructures - particularly subway stations - that have been laid out first, far ahead of the inauguration (unlike for most new towns, or Sondgo IBD).

Now the most important remains to give some soul and consistence to this alleywayless place. You want to see residents and researchers venture beyond their homes and campuses, roam the streets, enjoy the city. The park and diagonal canal can give purpose, but let's not forget to optimize every single street for pedestrians and bicycles, make this neighborhood a destination from all directions, in continuity with Hangang Park, and the new neighboring communities (Banghwa, Balsan...).
 
 
Seoul Village 2013
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Every other Sunday

From April on, all hypermarkets and big stores in Korea will be forced to close every second and fourth Sunday of the month. The measure aims at protecting smaller players, and diminishing the market share of chaebols.

Of course, HomePlus-Samsung-Tesco, Lotte, eMart-Shinsegae, won't not lose it all: expect even more crowded Saturdays, and the acceleration of substitution by online shopping. And naturally, the clock keeps ticking for the bulk of traditional markets.

Yet I see a potential boost for diversity in leisure and cultural activities.

Seoul Village 2012
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Online sales become the first distribution channel in Korea - or is door-to-door back ?

When I first came to Korea 20 years ago, Department Stores were becoming the main distribution channel for many consumer goods, taking over traditional door-to-door sales.

Convenience stores (FamilyMart, LG25 - now GS25 -, BuyTheWay, 7Eleven...) were also gaining ground. Then came the hypermarkets (eMart, Carrefour at one moment, Samsung / Tesco HomePlus, Lotte Mart...), and the SSMs / SuperSuperMarkets (Lotte mySuper, HomePlus Express, eMart Everyday...).

One by one, small groceries / mom & pop stores closed, and traditional markets plummeted, killed by discount shopping (or supposedly "discount" shopping : a recent survey pointed out that for many food items, traditional markets are actually cheaper). Survivors could count on a system that protected both food majors and small distributors : product packaging including the price tag regardless of the sales channel guaranteed the same price for such basic items as instant noodles or ice creams. But this system is about to be abandoned and anyway, it didn't mean much anymore : big discounters sell their own brands of instant noodles, and my local SSM offers a year-round 50% discount on all ice creams.

Even as competition raged between discount shops, many opening 24/7/365, Department Stores (Lotte DS, Shinsegae DS, Hyundai DS, Galleria DS...), sometimes growing into ambitious complexes (ie Shinsegae Centum City in Busan) remained ahead for many consumer goods and fashion.

Until now : online sales have just become Korea's first distribution channel.

This doesn't come as a surprise for anyone living in "ubiquitous" Korea : beyond pure players (ie Auction), even brick and mortar leaders are pushing ecommerce very hard, prefering cannibalization to the loss of a customer.

Somehow, we're back to square one and door-to-door sales. The first door is your mobile, PC or TV screen, but everything is done to deliver it wherever you live (home deliveries keep booming), wherever you work (Seoul would collapse without cheap express deliveries), and even wherever you go (ie location based services and mobile couponing).

Like for ADSL or FTTH, Korea's economy of access is unbeatable. Because of urban density, because major players are ready to offer what comes as a premium anywhere else, and furthermore because in many cases for smaller fish, the last mile is provided by people working under the legal hourly wage, ready to make a buck even if it doesn't make any sense if you simply take into account transportation costs. When you see a truck carrying about five hundred eggs on a highway, you know something is wrong. And when you order a book online, the delivery person is rarely twice the same plain-clothes individual.

I guess that's one of the reasons why Amazon is not in Korea. The retailer tried to do some business via Samsung / SIMS more than ten years ago but failed. So Amazon ships from other countries to international customers while Kim & Chang law firm securely protects Amazon.co.kr URL.

Of course, Amazon would face pure players in cultural goods, such as Aladdin (now Aladin.co.kr), or Kyobo Book Center (very ambitious in the ebook ecosystem), but I don't think it's about competition : players differenciating themselves on logistic platforms tend to struggle here. Carrefour left the country in spite of commercial success for regulatory reasons : it couldn't operate with its usual purchasing power model. I think the logistics equation could be very tricky for Amazon.

eBay is faring much better in Korea (as Auction.co.kr) - it even wolfed down G-market, snatching it away from Inter Park... but eBay is more into auctions and C2C than into retailing and B2C. And when it advertised massively on internet shopping, big retailers pushed the pedal to the metal.

But the biggest revolution for e-commerce in Korea this year is the end of Microsoft Explorer's de facto monopoly since July 1st : since 1999, all online shopping and banking services had to use ActiveX systems, but the Financial Services Commission put an end to it following the recent boom in smartphones.


Seoul Village 2010

Ranju Ramien (Seoul)

Yes, your Honor, I came for a snack and eventually had a 5 p.m. dinner. But in my defense :

1. An excellent location, particularly after the removal of Hoehyeon Overpass (one more key downtown area claimed by pedestrians) : almost at the crossroad (Hoehyeon Sagori), opposite Shinsegae, on the way to Myeongdong and the Post headquarters.

2. Good food from a Chinese chef : knife-cut noodles (도삭면 - between sujebi and thick, large, uneven tagliatelle) in a soup (seafood, spicy...), gimchi boribap, bossam, buchu mandu, kalguksu...

3. Kind prices and super-kind service.

Do I feel guilty ? No, your Honor. Who would under such circumstances ?

Will I pledge never to commit this crime again ? Not recidivating would be a crime, your Honor.

Seoul Village 2009

Ranju Ramien / 란주라미엔 (restaurant)
1F, 25-9 Chungmuro-1ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, ROK
Tel : +82.779.4800

Hoehyeon-dong overpass passed away

Another overpass is being removed in Seoul. As scheduled, the Hoehyeon Sagori concrete structure will disappear, liberating the view on Namsan Tower from the North.

This crossroads is often saturated : it cuts Toegyero at the exit of Namsan's 3rd Tunnel towards City Hall, right in front of Shinsegae, between Myeongdong and Namdaemun market.

The area is getting more residential, with 3 housing complexes nearing delivery : a SK Leaders View opposite the Department Store, a Lotte Castle behind Woori Bank building, and a Ssangyong Platinum next to LG CNS (Ssangyong is also growing an office building on the other side of that tower).

I won't say I'll miss the old Hoehyeon-dong, except for that quiet place guarded by a gigantic gingko tree. The crossroad area may become human friendlier, provided pedestrians are offered better and safer paths above ground. Under it, there's always that old shopping area if you're into corny paintings, vintage LPs, or stamp collections.

Without this overpass, more people may notice the proximity with the mountain in an otherwise green-free area. To make the invitation even more obvious, a small funicular was opened a few months ago, connecting the street with Namsan cable cars, higher on the hill.

I'm afraid it will take bigger investments in public transportation to compensate for the overpass and the flocks of new residents.

I think it would make sense to establish future connections with Yongsan-gu, particularly towards poorly served but soon to be redevelopped Huam-dong.

Pierre Gagnaire a Seoul

I don't know whether "Pierre Gagnaire à Séoul" can help revive the very corny Lotte Hotel or not, but it had been ages since I last pushed its doors... and I guess I'm not the only customer to experience this weird feeling on his way to the 35th floor and to the first restaurant by a 3 Michelin Star Chef in Korea.

After Paris, Tokyo, Hong-Kong, and Dubai, the Pierre Gagnaire franchise opened shop in Seoul.

The timing couldn't be worse... or better for the Lotte Group : all luxury restaurants are struggling, but this chaebol is on an aggressive investing drive (purchasing food and beverage companies, building a new 555 m high Lotte World II...), and intends to gain ground as rivals struggle (most rivals : fellow retailer Shinsegae just opened a giant new complex in Busan, and purchased at a bargain price a key building near its headquarters in downtown Seoul).

Enough biz talk. And let's not waste time describing the curvy decor creating two niches with a view on the city center, enhanced by a smart system of mirrors.

Food, now. For this first encounter of the third kind in Seoul and after experiencing some overacted cuisine extravaganzas at "Gaya par Pierre Gagnaire" in Paris, I didn't dare taking too risky a path on the rather stimulating menu, and went for a simple and classic course. No surprise there (ie veal with eel and boletus), except for a few successful innovations maintained on the side (ie amuses-gueule and dessert), and at the right level.

My first impression : not a major disruption, but the possibility for Seoulites to enjoy the real Parisian-style, 3-star thing.

This fills a competitive gap with rival Asian neighbors, and could spark some positive competition at the national level. Eventually. And if Lotte can sustain the "caprice" until better times come.

Knowing that a much quicker and more positive way of putting definitely Seoul on the global culinar map would be to promote high end Korean restaurants : this courageous opening doesn't make for last year's tragic loss (see "Annus Horribilis").

Pierre Gagnaire à Séoul
Lotte Hotel Seoul 35F New Wing, Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, SEOUL, ROK
Tel +82.2.317.7181, 7182

Seoul Village 2009

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