Nam Center Colloquium Series | Making a New Metropolis in Seoul : ‘The Age of 86·88’ as a Catalyst of Gangnaminization

This study examines the spatio-cultural changes of urban society in Seoul during 1980’s, focusing on influences of 1988 Seoul Olympic games on the development of Gangnam area. Learning from and succeeding the art of ruling of the Park Chung Hee regime, the 5th republic succeeded in hosting 1986 Asian games and 1988 Olympic games in Seoul as early as 1981. Since then, a project of the making of a showcase city to show off the ‘Miracle of Han river’ to the whole world has begun. It composed mainly of three urban restructuring plans such as the renewal of the old town area, comprehensive development of Han river area including Yeouido island, and intensive development of newly built Yeongdong area. Through ‘the Age of 86·88’, Yeongdong has transformed into a newly-born heart of Seoul metropolitan area, Gangnam.

Baek Yung Kim is an Associate Professor in the College of Liberal Arts, Kwangwoon University in Seoul, South Korea and is a Visiting Scholar of Department of History in UC-San Diego. He served as the Operations Director for the Korean Social History Association (2012-2014) and the Manager of the Korean Society for Urban History (2013-2014). He is a Member of the Editorial Board of Hanguk Sahoehak [Korean Sociological Review] (2013-present) and Doshi Yeonku [Korean Journal of Urban History] (2011-present).

He is the author of Ch’ibae wa Gonggan: Shikminch’i doshi Gyeongseonggwa Ch’eguk Ilbon [Governmentality and Space: Colonial Seoul and the Japanese Empire] (Munhakgwajisungsa, 2009). As a historical sociologist and urban historian, he has published numerous articles on colonial modernity issues in Korea, Japanese colonial urbanism and its legacies in South Korea, and local experiences and collective memories of Koreans.