A young couple were walking hand in hand through the bustling district

Young couple walking hand in hand — Couple walking through Myeongdong

At the heart of Seoul, Myeong-dong is always alive with people, no matter the hour or the season. It’s the city’s beating pulse of fashion and youth culture—something between Harajuku and Shibuya in Tokyo. The streets are lined with cosmetics shops, cafés, and food stalls, a jumble of desires packed into narrow lanes. Signs blend Hangul, Katakana, and English, as if the very letters themselves were conspiring to welcome tourists.

Everyone walking there seems neatly put together. Korean youth, men and women alike, have a striking sense of style—well-groomed hair, carefully chosen clothes. Among them, I felt like a relic from an old black-and-white photograph, a leftover from the Showa era that had wandered into a color world. Then I noticed a young couple holding hands, walking shoulder to shoulder. The woman pointed at something in the distance, and the man looked that way with a faintly puzzled expression. They were clearly searching for their destination, though neither seemed in a hurry to find it.

Navigating Myeong-dong’s crowd is an endurance test in itself, yet the two never let go. It was as if their clasped hands were a quiet act of defiance against the city’s restless current. To my observer’s eyes, the gesture looked almost ceremonial—a ritual of intimacy enacted amid the chaos.

When I glanced upward, I spotted a glowing sign that read “노래방 (Noraebang)”—Karaoke. In Japan, karaoke means a social pastime; in Korea, it’s often a small, private room where couples go to sing alone together. A city of love, neon, and music, endlessly looping in the key of youth—that is Myeong-dong, Seoul.

Myeongdong on Google Map

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