Quiet Property

FIELD NOTES  ·  HANNAM DISTRICT 3 Hannam District 3, spanning parts of Hannam-dong and Bogwang-dong in Yongsan-gu, is the largest of the redevelopment zones within the Hannam New Town project. Hyundai Engineering & Construction was selected as the general contractor in 2020. The completed development, to be named DH Hannam, is planned for approximately 6,000 households. At present, demolition of the existing structures is underway. A place long defined by narrow alleys and low-rise housing is becoming, block by block, a single continuous construction site. Hannam District 3 is not simply a matter of replacing old houses with new apartments. It is closer to a full redrawing of terrain and time: the slope between Namsan and the Han River, the daily orbits of Itaewon and Bogwang-dong, and an urban fabric assembled across different decades — all being reconsidered at once. The finished form is not yet visible. But this moment — when an old neighborhood disa...

A Considered Analysis · 유엔빌리지, 명성이 시장가치로 이어지기 위한 조건 UN Village What It Takes for Reputation to Become Market Value SEOUL · YONGSAN · 2026 I. A Village, Not a Development Nothing about UN Village started the way Seoul's other prime addresses did. There was no single developer here, no unifying architectural language. On the slope between Hannam-dong and the Han River, detached houses, diplomatic residences, low-rise homes, and high-end villas arrived one at a time, over decades, until what stood was less a complex than a village. A river view from high ground. One road in. Low density, and almost no one passing through who doesn't live here. Even by Seoul's standards, that combination is rare. But the real story isn't that expensive houses happen to sit together on a hill. It's that UN Village carries, in one place, the shape of modern Korean history, the country's foreign-resident housing culture, the logic of the luxury villa market, and the ...

Field Notes · A Quiet Walk to Maebongsan There is a trail entrance just beside the main gate of Hannam The Hill — easy to miss unless you already know it's there. It leads up onto Maebongsan, the low, wooded hill that sits behind the complex. There's a second way in as well, for residents of Hannam The Hill itself: a path behind the community center, past a guard point, that climbs directly onto the same ridge. Either way, within a few minutes the apartment towers give way to pine forest. The route is unhurried. It passes a pavilion, a set of free outdoor exercise equipment, and a foot reflexology path laid in stone — the kind of quiet infrastructure Seoul builds into its hillsides without much announcement. A little further on, there's a clearing wide enough to let a dog off the leash for a few minutes, before the trail continues and eventually descends back toward Hannam-dong. For those who want more than a short walk, Maebongsan connects onward — further along ...

Working with Jin · Frequently Asked Questions One question comes up more than any other from clients based outside Korea: what will I actually pay, and when? Korean real estate tax is not decided by nationality. It depends on residency status, whether the property is held individually or through a company, the type and location of the property, the number of properties already owned, holding period, and how funds move in and out of the country. Nine questions below, following one transaction from the day it is signed to the day the property is eventually passed on. As of July 2026. This is general information for planning purposes, not tax or legal advice for a specific transaction. Rules referenced here change; confirm current figures with a Korean tax accountant or attorney before signing anything. Q1. Is there a single "foreign buyer's tax rate"? No. The most common misconception is that a foreign passport determines the tax outcome. In practice, what matte...

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Field Notes UN Village. The Han River, facing north toward Gangnam. Meditation has a term for it -- the place where thought stops. Not the absence of mind, but the moment just after analysis ends and looking begins. This is not an analysis. It is a pause -- a page to rest on before the next one. Quiet Property  ·  Jin Kong jin@quietproperty.kr

Considered Analysis Why the world's wealthy are choosing Tokyo, not Seoul. Knight Frank's The Residence Report 2025/26 shows that the center of gravity in global luxury housing is shifting steadily toward Asia. The population of individuals with net assets above USD 10 million grew 5% across Asia-Pacific in 2024, according to the report, and is projected to grow a further 8.7% by 2028. The rise in prime residential prices is just as striking. Knight Frank's Prime Global Cities Index shows Tokyo's prime prices rising 120% over the five years to Q2 2025, and Seoul's rising roughly 81% over the same period. Seoul's one-year growth rate of 25.2% was the highest among the 46 cities surveyed. Asia is no longer the periphery of the global luxury housing market. And yet one question follows. Does a sharp rise in Seoul's prime prices mean Seoul has become a second home for the world's wealthy? My own answer leans toward: not yet. Pri...