SEOUL -- Seoul's scruffy backwater of Itaewon -- for years known only for its girlie bars, tatty drinking dens, cut-price souvenirs and fake watches -- is undergoing a gradual transformation.
In the last year alone, half-a-dozen internationally recognized brand-name stores have set up shop in the district, and traders are optimistic that the opening of a new subway line, which will run directly beneath the Itaewon-dong main street, coupled with the 2002 soccer World Cup, to be jointly hosted with Japan, will bring more new blood -- and tourists -- to the area.
And it's not only the shops that are banking on the arrival of new faces to spend their South Korean won. Gecko's Bar & Restaurant is currently celebrating the first anniversary of its opening, and Micha Richter, joint owner of the hottest drinking spot on the 2.5 km drag, says business is booming.