Vans Living Off the Wall - Seoul City Underground

Among the pressure filled society in Korea, where fitting in is a requirement and hierarchies are rigid, there is an underground alternative lifestyle full of tattoos, skateboarding, punk rock, and exploring a new individualist mentality brought on by the rapid modernization Korea has seen over the past 40 years.

Only a few decades removed from a military dictatorship ruling the country and just over 50 years from a devastating civil war that tattered the Korean people’s souls, Korea is for the first time in search of its own identity.

Documentary filmmaker Joni Els has put together four short vignettes that lifts the veil on Korean society to show a Seoul that I know and have fallen in love with. Featuring local tattoo artists and bands like Juck Juck Grunzie and The Strikers, this will give you a look at a fresh and new scene being created. Spread open and bare for all to see its glaring mistakes and it’s beautiful triumphs this is a fantastic look into my Seoul.