the first mall in seoul

The first department store in Seoul was the Gyeongseong Branch of Mitsukoshi (三越京成支店), built in 1930 and designed by Japanese architect Hayashi Kouhei. It is one of the few structures that actually survived the Korean War. In 1963, the Samsung group took over the building and began the Shinsegae Department Store (신세계 백화점) and in 2007, it was remodeled with escalators.

During the colonial era, this department store was one of two Western-style buildings that ordinary Koreans could enter (the other being Seoul Station). It is here that concepts such as 'modern boy' and 'modern girl' entered the vocabulary of young Korean people.

A view of it today at night

During Christmas

 In 1914, Japan opened its first Mitsukoshi in Nihonbashi in Tokyo modeled after department stores in London (Harrod's) and Paris (Le Bon Marché). Sixteen years later, the Seoul branch would open.

Harrods in London, 1898

Le Bon Marché, 1850