Walk south from Euljiro toward Chungmuro and the smell changes. Less coffee, more paper and toner. You've entered the printing alley — a district that traces its roots to 1403, when Korea's royal printing office, the Jujaso, stood on this same ground. Fact In March 2026, the city approved a formal redevelopment zone covering the heart of this district.
Why printing needs a neighborhood
In most cities, printing is one company, one building. Here it works differently. A single order — a box of business cards, a run of wedding invitations — might pass through four or five separate shops. One handles design. One makes the printing plates. One runs the press. One cuts and binds. Each shop employs five workers or fewer. They survive by being close enough to walk a job next door. Fact This is why the alley cannot simply relocate to a single new building: if the shops scatter, the system that makes them fast and affordable breaks apart with them.
What is changing right now
Rents near the alley have risen sharply, partly from Hipjiro spillover from Euljiro next door. Many small tenants hold gwonrigeum — a Korean key-money deposit worth tens of thousands of dollars — which they forfeit if they leave before a lease is properly settled. Fact Some printing companies have already relocated to cheaper industrial areas outside Seoul, like Paju or Dongdaemun. Each departure makes the remaining shops' collaborative network a little thinner.
What a visitor can actually see
Peer through open shopfronts during working hours (weekday mornings are best) and you can often follow a single order across multiple shops. Paper and sample books line the windows the way a bakery displays bread. As of 2026, redevelopment notices are beginning to appear on some buildings — a direct, visible sign of the March zoning decision.