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Ever wonder what "Gangnam Style" was all about?
- The Gangnam district is known as South Korea's "Beverly Hills," due to its exorbitant real estate prices and its wealthy residents.
- Property in Gangnam is 3.5 times as expensive as South Korea's real estate average.
- The Gangnam neighborhoods of Cheongdam and Apgujeong are full of luxury fashion houses, plastic surgery clinics, high-end real estate, and the homes of many Korean celebrities.
- PSY's international song "Gangnam Style" famously lampooned the wealthy district, which has an outsized reputation in Korean culture.
Ever since PSY's international mega-hit "Gangnam Style" in 2012, people all over the world have heard the name of Seoul's most affluent district.
But few know what the area called the "Beverly Hills" of South Korea is actually like.
While the district is an economic hub for some of the most powerful companies globally, including Google, IBM, and Toyota, its real heart is its residential areas, where the deposit to rent a home costs 10 years of salary for the average Korean.
Living in Gangnam - and more specifically living in the Gangnam neighborhoods of Cheongdam-dong and Apgujeong-dong - is a status symbol that many Koreans aspire to. Cheongdam-dong and Apgujeong-dong are home to many Korean actors, actresses, and idols, miles of luxury retail, a wild nightlife, and Korea's biggest entertainment companies.
I recently took a walk through Cheongdam-dong and Apgujeong-dong to get a feel for what life is like in Korea's most affluent district. Here's what it was like: