Seoul Underground Shopping: 25 City-Run Arcades, and Why Hongdae Isn't One

Most guides describe Seoul's underground shopping malls as a quirk — shops that happen to sit under a subway station. That misses what they actually are.

They are a public system. Twenty-five underground arcades (지하도상가) holding 2,788 shops are owned by the city of Seoul and operated by Seoul Facilities Corporation (서울시설공단), the same public agency that runs the city's tunnels and stadiums. The shops are private businesses, but the corridors, the leases, and the opening hours belong to city government.

That explains the things travelers find confusing. Why the hours are identical across half the city. Why the corridors stay open long after the shops close. And why the one place everyone searches for — Hongdae — does not have one.

This guide gives you the actual list, the real hours and prices as of August 2026, and a straight answer on Hongdae.

If you are planning a wider shopping day, EpicKor's Korean souvenir guide and Seoul tech shopping guide cover the above-ground stops.

Korean Bokjumeoni lucky pouch — compare on AmazonAffiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, EpicKor earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.

Quick Guide: Which One, and What It Costs

Store counts are from Seoul Facilities Corporation's own arcade register. Hours and prices checked August 7, 2026.

If you are picking one: Goto Mall. It has more shops than the next two arcades combined, and it is the only one where the browsing itself is the attraction.

Why They Exist: 1967, Traffic and Air Raids

Seoul's first underground arcade was Saeseoul Underground Arcade (새서울지하상가) in front of City Hall, completed in December 1967.

It was not a shopping concept. Seoul in the 1960s was solving two problems at once: downtown traffic congestion and the need for air-raid shelters — an urgent matter in a city 50 km from the border. Digging pedestrian underpasses solved both, and filling them with shops paid for the digging.

There was a third motive, and it is the most Seoul thing about the story. Where the city wanted to build roads, there were already traditional market alleys, unlicensed buildings, and street vendors — and the merchants resisted being moved. The solution was to put the market underground, run the road over the top of it, and let everyone stay. After the subway opened in 1974, underpasses multiplied through the 1980s for the same combination of reasons.

That is why the arcades cluster in old downtown — Euljiro, Jongno, Myeongdong, Namdaemun — and why the newer, richer districts do not have them. The map of Seoul's underground arcades is a map of where Seoul's downtown was in 1970.

Hold onto that. It answers the Hongdae question.

Does Hongdae Have an Underground Shopping Mall? No — Here Is Why, and What to Do Instead

This is the most searched question about Seoul underground shopping, and the honest answer is short: Hongik University Station is not on the list of 25.

Not "sort of," not "it depends." The city's arcade register covers six zones — Euljiro, Jongno, Myeongdong, Gangnam, Terminal, and Yeongdeungpo. Hongdae is in none of them, because in 1970 Hongdae was a quiet art-college neighbourhood in Mapo, not a downtown with traffic to bury.

What Hongik University Station has instead is a large three-line interchange (Line 2, Airport Railroad, Gyeongui–Jungang) with long underground passages, convenience stores, and station retail. Useful for staying dry; not a shopping destination.

The thing you are probably actually looking for is AK Plaza Hongdae (AK플라자 홍대), and it is better for most visitors than an arcade would be:

• Right at Exit 4 of Hongik University Station (1 minute from Gyeongui–Jungang Exit 5). You do not need a map.
• Open 11:00–22:00 weekdays, 10:30–22:00 weekends and holidays.
• Opened 2018 and built specifically around Hongdae's crowd, so the floors are not a generic department store: 2F fandom and accessories, 3F street culture, 4F entertainment, 5F animation and character goods.

If you came to Seoul for K-pop albums, photocards, and character merchandise, AK Plaza Hongdae is a more direct answer than any underground arcade in the city — the arcades sell socks, phone cases and mid-price clothing, not fandom goods.

So: go to Gangnam Station or Goto Mall if you want underground shopping. Go to Hongdae for street culture, cafes, and fandom retail. They are different trips, and searching for the first at Hongdae will only cost you an afternoon.

Goto Mall: 620 Shops, and Genuinely Cheap

Goto Mall (고투몰) under Express Bus Terminal Station is the one that justifies a dedicated trip.

The scale is the point: 620 shops across 31,566 m². The second-largest arcade in Seoul, Hoehyeon, has 225. Goto Mall is not "one of the big ones" — it is roughly a third of every city-arcade shop in Seoul, in one place.

What things actually cost (August 2026). This is where Goto Mall separates from every other shopping option in Seoul:

• Basic tops from around ₩3,000
• Sweatshirts around ₩10,000
• Two-piece tracksuit sets around ₩15,000

For comparison, the same categories in a Myeongdong street shop typically start three to five times higher. Goto Mall is not "affordable for Seoul." It is cheap.

The arcade is also divided by category rather than by brand — clothing, then flowers (꽃 도매), then homeware, then food. The flower section is a genuine local destination that most visitor guides skip entirely.

Practical notes:

• Hours are 10:00–22:00, open year-round except parts of major holidays.
• Bring cash. Many stalls prefer it, and some give a better price for it. Card is widely accepted but not universally welcomed.
• Weekday afternoons are calm; weekends are genuinely crowded.
• Photograph the nearest pillar number or exit sign when you find something. After twenty minutes the rows look identical, and "it was back there somewhere" is not a workable plan in a 620-shop corridor.

Gangnam Station: Two Malls, Not One

Gangnam Station's underground shopping is 212 shops across 12,315 m² at 강남대로 지하396, open 10:00–22:00, with the walking passage itself open 24 hours.

Here is the detail no English guide mentions, and it causes real confusion on the ground: there are two separate underground malls at Gangnam Station, under two different operators.

• 강남역 지하쇼핑센터 — the city arcade, under the Line 2 station. Clothing, cosmetics, phone accessories, casual fashion.
• DX아르체 (DX Arche) — a private mall run by Neotrans under the Shinbundang Line station.

The two are connected, so you can walk from one to the other without noticing you changed malls. If a shop you liked seems to have vanished on your second visit, this is usually why: you are in the other mall.

Gangnam is the right choice when you are already in the area and have 30 to 90 minutes. It is not worth a dedicated trip across the city when Goto Mall exists, but it is excellent as a stop before dinner in Gangnam.

Starfield COEX Is Not an Underground Arcade

Worth saying plainly, because the confusion sends people to the wrong place: COEX is a private mall, not one of the 25.

It is owned and operated by Shinsegae Property. It opened in May 2000 as COEX Mall and was renamed Starfield COEX Mall (스타필드 코엑스몰) in 2016 when the Starfield brand was applied — which is why old guides and new signage disagree.

Practically: it is at Samseong Station (Line 2), Exits 5 and 6, open 10:30–22:00, with roughly 200 retail units plus about 100 food and beverage brands, a cinema, an aquarium, and Starfield Library.

Choose COEX when you want comfort, air conditioning, chain brands, and somewhere a mixed group can split up for two hours. Do not choose it expecting bargains — the price level is ordinary retail, and the arcade experience is not there.

The Full List of Seoul's 25 Underground Arcades

Here is the complete register, by zone, with shop counts. No English source publishes this, and it is genuinely useful if you are staying somewhere other than Gangnam.

Two entries are not currently normal stops: Inhyeon is temporarily closed and Cheongnyangni is under construction with 6 shops. Check before making a trip for either.

How to Shop Them Without Wasting an Afternoon

Underground arcades are tiring in a specific way — the visual environment repeats, there are no windows, and you lose your sense of direction fast.

Three habits that actually help: photograph the exit number when you go down, decide your one category before you enter, and carry a foldable tote — arcade purchases are small and they multiply.

The Honest Part: Who Should Skip This

Underground arcades are not for everyone, and pretending otherwise wastes your trip.

Skip them if:

• You want specific Korean skincare. Arcades carry cosmetics, but for a named product go to Olive Young or a brand store. EpicKor's Korean sunscreen guide is the product-focused starting point.
• You need reliable sizing or returns. Many stalls have no fitting room and return policies vary by shop. At ₩3,000 that is an acceptable risk; at ₩50,000 it is not.
• You dislike being approached. Some sections are actively sales-driven.
• You are shopping for brand-name goods. Arcades are unbranded and small-batch by nature. Department stores and Starfield COEX are where brands are.
• You have exactly one shopping afternoon and want photos. COEX and Myeongdong photograph well. A 620-shop corridor does not.

What arcades genuinely win at: cheap, light, packable things in volume — socks, accessories, hair clips, phone cases, casual clothing, stationery, small gifts. If your Korea shopping list is "twelve small presents for people at home," Goto Mall will do it for less than a single department-store item.

Sources Checked

• Seoul Facilities Corporation, underground arcade register (상가총괄현황) for the list of 25 arcades, all shop counts, floor areas, and the closed/under-construction status of Inhyeon and Cheongnyangni.
• Seoul Facilities Corporation, Terminal arcade page for Goto Mall's 620 shops, 31,566 m², address, hours, and subway lines.
• Seoul Facilities Corporation, Gangnam Station arcade page for 212 shops, 12,315 m², address, and the 24-hour passage.
• Korean Wikipedia, underground arcades of Korea and Seoul city archive on the era's redevelopment for the December 1967 Saeseoul arcade, the traffic/air-raid rationale, and the market-relocation motive.
• Starfield COEX Mall official site for hours, station exits, and the 2016 renaming from COEX Mall.
• Goto Mall official site for hours and zone layout.

FAQ About Seoul Underground Shopping

Q: How many underground shopping malls does Seoul have?

A: Twenty-five city-run underground arcades (지하도상가) with 2,788 shops total, operated by Seoul Facilities Corporation. Private malls like Starfield COEX are separate and not counted in that number.

Q: Does Hongdae have an underground shopping mall?

A: No. Hongik University Station is not among the 25 city arcades — Seoul's arcades were built in the 1960s–80s under the old downtown, and Hongdae was not downtown then. For indoor shopping at Hongdae, go to AK Plaza Hongdae at Exit 4, which is built around fandom, street culture, and character goods.

Q: Which Seoul underground mall is the biggest?

A: Goto Mall (고투몰) at Express Bus Terminal Station, with 620 shops across 31,566 m². The next largest, Hoehyeon, has 225. Goto Mall alone holds about a fifth of every city-arcade shop in Seoul.

Q: How cheap is Goto Mall really?

A: As of August 2026, basic tops start around ₩3,000, sweatshirts around ₩10,000, and two-piece tracksuit sets around ₩15,000. Bring cash — many stalls prefer it and some price better for it.

Q: What are the opening hours?

A: Nearly all city arcades run 10:00–22:00 year-round, because the hours are set at the system level rather than by each mall. The walking passages stay open longer — Gangnam Station's passage is open 24 hours even when the shops are shut. Starfield COEX runs 10:30–22:00.

Q: Is COEX an underground mall?

A: Not in the Korean sense. Starfield COEX is a private mall run by Shinsegae Property, opened in 2000 and renamed in 2016. It sits below ground at Samseong Station but is not one of the city's 25 지하도상가.

Q: Are there two malls at Gangnam Station?

A: Yes, and they are connected. 강남역 지하쇼핑센터 is the city arcade under the Line 2 station; DX Arche (DX아르체) is a private mall under the Shinbundang Line station. Walking between them is seamless, which is why a shop can seem to disappear on a return visit.

The Rule Worth Remembering

Seoul's underground arcades are not backup plans for bad weather. They are what is left of how the city solved traffic, shelter, and displaced markets in one move sixty years ago — and they are still where Seoul buys the cheap, everyday things.

Pick by mission. Goto Mall for bargains, Gangnam for convenience, COEX for comfort, Hongdae for everything except an underground mall.