Pyeongtaek (평택) is made up of many different, unique little neighborhoods. Over the last 2 years Pyeongtaek neighborhoods have been reorganized, a new address system created, and – often – completely new names assigned. Combine this with the constantly changing English Speaking population that rotates through each year, and life becomes like a big game of Telephone as half information turns into mythical information. That’s where South of Seoul comes in. We are on the ground and updating the South of Seoul app each time we are alerted to a change or inconsistency. We also let folks know of why things are weird and the tricks to getting around these inconsistencies so life becomes smoother. Which means…. always let us know if a business is closed, a new one has opened, or something isn’t working right! We make those changes and keep things running smoothly. Now let’s learn about a local neighborhood:
Introducing Pyeongtaek City (팽택동)
Just like there is a New York, New York there is a Pyeongtaek-dong (평택동), Pyeongtaek-si (팽택시). This is the area surrounding the transportation hub and department store AK Plaza at Pyeongtaek Station. The area used to be the center of Pyeongteak society. One of the only places people went out. It was hopping with anyone who was anyone and all the best, new businesses wanted to be here. Since it was located near the biggest transportation hub in a working-class city, it also had a captive audience.
However, things have changed. Sadly, Google hasn’t caught up with this fact. Instead of giving current blog results, it still feeds blogs from years ago for places that are gone or simply outdated which makes Pyeongtaek seem more stuck in the past than it is. It also makes Pyeongtaek-dong seem like it’s still the center of Pyeongtaek life when it just isn’t. The truth is that since 2015 Pyeongtaek-si has rapidly expanded and the glamor of Pyeongtaek-dong has faded. The area is no longer the hip stop. Instead, for Koreans, it’s the teenager hangout. Those with big bank accounts or status have headed to Sosabeol to party.
However, don’t discount it. This remains one of our favorite places to hang out. Let’s take a look at why that is.
What makes the area stand out?
Funny as it might sound, Pyeongtaek-dongs fading popularity isn’t bad news for everyone. Especially for the foreign population. It has opened up space for more mom and pop foreign restaurants to open their doors. These days the area has started to evolve into something completely different and exciting, a mini-international district that’s picking up speed. Most of these foreign restaurants and businesses are located in the direction of the traditional market and are easily missed if you aren’t looking. If you are looking though, on some streets, you will see more Chinese restaurants than meat restaurants. In addition to traditional Chinese food, you can find a variety of foreign restaurants such as Indian, Japanese, Nepali, Mongolian, Vietnamese, Thai and more. Highly worth wandering around and exploring this area of the city. South of Seoul has included many of these foreign restaurants in our Pyeogntaek Food + Fun directory. Leave your reviews and let us know which are your favorite. Tell us about new, delicious places you find so we can share them with the community.
What is there to do in Pyeongtaek City?
Since there are so many high school kids that hang out near AK Plaza, it’s kind of a bonus because it means there are plenty of affordable, fun things like clothing boutiques, make-up stores, roller skating, archery, escape room, PC bangs, nori bangs, movie theater, and more. You can take 10,000 to Pyeongtaek City and still find something fun to do even if it’s play Fortnight with your friends for a few hours. Heck, that’s like free AC in summer and heat in winter!
You can find many of our favorite experiences and places (except for the shopping) listed in the Pyeongtaek Food + Fun directory in the South of Seoul app. All of the listings automatically sort by what is closest to you. This means the first parking that pops up is the parking close to you. The first restaurant is the restaurant most close to you. Etc. Since many new arrivals aren’t fully oriented to location, this can make things much easier.
What are some of the area highlights?
AK Plaza: This was Pyeongtaek’s first fancy place and it still holds up. It’s expensive and filled with all kinds of delights: movie theater, food courts, restaurants, rooftop viewing area, bookstore, etc.
Movie Theaters: There are two movie theaters in the area. CGV and Mega Box.
Tong Bok Market: The biggest traditional market in Pyeongtaek, is open 7 days a week. If you are on a budget and want to eat fresh fruits and veg – shop at the open markets. WAY cheaper than Emart or Home Plus. (Technically located in Tong Bok dong)
Foreign Food Marts: This brings us to a very important aspect of the area. Pyeongtaek-dong and Tong-bok dong have numerous foreign food groceries where you can pick up what you need for Thai, Filipino, Vietnamese, Indian, or Russian cooking. (Technically located in Tong Bok dong)
Tong Bok Youth Forest: Tucked in the back of the traditional market is a magic little wonderland of restaurants and businesses owned by young owners. The perfect place to hang out with friends and stuff your face with delicious things. (Technically located in Tong Bok dong)
AK Plaza: This was Pyeongtaek’s first fancy place and it still holds up. It’s expensive and filled with all kinds of delights: movie theater, food courts, restaurants, rooftop viewing area, bookstore, etc.
Movie Theaters: There are two movie theaters in the area. CGV and Mega Box.
Lotte Inverns: Popular housing tower where many expats choose to live due to it’s proximity to Pyeongtaek Station.
What is the nightlife like?
This is where we like to go out at night, however, it doesn’t have a club scene per say. Instead, it’s still a very Korean experience with places you can spend all night talking, eating and laughing with friends. We have often lost track of time going from one hangout spot to another and suddenly realized it was 4am or 6am. The scene isn’t hype. It’s chilled out and entraining with bottle bars (pubs where you help yourself to beers from a wall of fridges and then pay for the bottles on the way out), nori bangs, and late night chicken joints.
What is transportation like?
Parking: There is a plethora of affordable public parking lots which have been entered into the South of Seoul app.
City Bus: Almost all buses end up at Pyeongtaek Station for transfer to other parts of the area so it’s very easy to get to. Use either Google Maps via the South of Seoul app or Naver to find the right bus for you. If you are coming from Camp Humphreys just jump on the 20 bus. Sig Flips The Table made an awesome blog about this in 2017.
Express Bus: There are two bus stations in this area. These are listed in the South of Seoul Transportation Hubs along with schedules.
Local Trains: The majority of trains leave from Pyeongtaek Dong. However, there is no KTX or SRT that stop at this station. KTX leaves from Cheonan or Suwon and the SRT leaves from Jijae one stop north of Pyeongtaek Station.
Subway: Line one stops at Pyeongtaek station. It goes South to Asan and north to Seoul
Founded in 2015, the South of Seoul team consists of volunteers on three continents working together to support English-speaking people traveling or living in South Korea. South of Seoul volunteers work with organizations and individuals across South Korea to improve equitable access to information across South Korea. Much of South of Seoul’s information focuses on Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea.
Blogs published under the authorship of “South of Seoul” include blogs compiled by multiple volunteers to improve access to standardized information unrelated to individualized personal experiences.
