Anam is at the center of the closely bonded college town of Korea University (KU). “Anam” is an umbrella term that KU students commonly use to include Anam neighborhood and Jegi neighborhood, both of which surround the two campuses of KU. Although Anam is not a crowded, popular neighborhood like the ones around some of the other colleges in Seoul, it retains its own homelike characteristics with the history of KU imprinted on its streets from Gaeunsa road to Chamsari road.
Anam boasts a wide variety of stores and restaurants, the majority of which target students and faculty who reside or work in the area. Many restaurants and stores come and go but some places remain and grow together with KU. Chunja, Kemang, and Radical Brewing Club are three places with different stories but share one thing in common: their representation of Anam. While places like Chunja and Kemang represent Anam’s consistent nature through its ups and downs, new places like Radical Brewing Club show that Anam is an area of constant change. Breaking free from the stereotypical reputation that Anam is a boring neighborhood, their stories very much demonstrate the vibrancy of this place. Due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), students are not able to enjoy their college life as much as they did before. Still, the spirit of KU remains in Anam with places that define and experiences that create it. Here are some of the places that define Anam.
Chunja
Chunja is probably a place that every KU student has visited once or at least heard of. It is an iconic place that has existed in Anam for more than 15 years. Chunja, which was initially designed to be a catering franchise, was built in 2005. To meet the shifting needs and wants of its customers, Chunja constantly tries to update its menu. As a result, people started giving equal love to all food, when in the past, soondubu (a Korean stew of soft tofu) and bulgogi (Korean grilled beef) used to be the two most popular menu choices that kept the business running.
Jang Hyun Woong, the owner of Chunja, expressed, “I am always grateful for the love we receive from KU students.” Although Jang thinks that there is nothing particularly special about Chunja that makes it such a long-running store, jeong, which is a unique Korean concept that encompasses the feeling of affection and the sense of bond, seems to be what helps this store thrive and makes it so unique. Jang wishes that once the pandemic ends, the freshmen and sophomores will be able to get the authentic KU experience at Chunja with its lively atmosphere and culture of KU that students can only experience in the basement of Chunja.
Kemang
Kemang, located near the Main Gate of KU, is a small cozy café run by an owner named Kim Haengnyeo. Kim started running this café after the first five years of its opening when the previous owner, who used to live in New Zealand and decided to go back, left her to take over. Kim shared an interesting background story on why she changed the name of the café from Tūī to Kemang. The previous owner named the café after her favorite bird, Tūī, which is native to New Zealand. When Kim took over the café, she was in a rush to change its name in order to officially claim the store as her property. A famous street in Jakarta inspired her when she was searching for a new name, as she lived in Indonesia for 20 years before coming to Seoul. “I came up with the name Kemang, which is a street famous for coffee in Jakarta, in hopes that this street will also turn into a coffee street,” said Kim.
Over time, several trendy cafés started opening near Kemang, fulfilling Kim's wish. While some of the younger customers left Kemang for the newer cafes, Kemang stayed consistent throughout. It is a place that feels like home. “What remains in my memory is the people,” Kim commented. Seeing couples date and break up and being there for the students in their ups and downs, Kim said she feels like a mother, celebrating students’ happy news with them and comforting them when hearing their sad news. The place has become something more than just a café.
Radical Brewing Club
Radical Brewing Club is a café launched by two KU students — Kwon Dogeun (’10, Economics) and Kim Jehyun (’14, Korean Language and Literature) — from Management Consulting Club (MCC), a business consulting club at KU. Opened in November 2020, Radical Brewing Club had an interesting beginning. When one of the members heard about the empty space in the same building where they used to study, he initially devised a plan to turn the place into a small bar suitable for get-togethers with friends. Opening a café in Jegi neighborhood was a strategic decision since both the owners knew the area well after years of being at KU.
What started out as a small idea turned into the beginning of something grand. What distinguishes Radical Brewing Club from other cafés is its variety of beans. Even among other specialty cafes, it is hard to find a place that has more than 12 varieties. “At Radical Brewing Club, customers can enjoy different types of coffee more easily with what we call the Filter Coffee Squad,” said Kim Sung Jun, a barista at Radical Brewing Club. The Filter Coffee Squad is a chart designed to help customers choose from a wide variety of beans according to their preferences in acidity and texture. Radical Brewing Club is planning to open new branches in other locations and expand globally by developing a new distribution model, overcoming the expectations and limitations of the coffee business.
