Gangnam-gu, Seoul: The Complete Neighborhood Guide

What Gangnam-gu Is Like

Gangnam-gu has been Seoul's wealthiest district since the 1970s and '80s, when the government planned it as a new business and residential zone south of the Han River (강남 literally means "south of the river"). Today it's Korea's densest concentration of corporate headquarters, luxury retail, private tutoring academies, and high-rise apartment complexes — and consistently among the most expensive real estate in the country.

It isn't a single neighborhood feel, though. Gangnam-gu splits into distinct areas with very different characters:

• Apgujeong (압구정) & Cheongdam (청담) — Seoul's luxury fashion and entertainment corridor. Flagship stores for major fashion houses, celebrity-adjacent cafes, and a concentration of K-pop entertainment agency offices. The most expensive housing in the district.
• Sinsa & Garosugil (신사, 가로수길) — a tree-lined shopping street known for boutiques, design studios, and a younger, trendier crowd than Apgujeong proper.
• Yeoksam (역삼) & Teheran-ro (테헤란로) — Korea's startup and tech corridor, sometimes called Korea's "Silicon Valley." Dense with IT company offices, coworking spaces, and VC firms, plus the highest concentration of studio/officetel rentals in the district for people working nearby.
• Daechi-dong (대치동) — nationally famous as Korea's largest private-academy (hagwon, 학원) cluster. Families move here specifically for school access; the area is quiet, family-oriented, and built around the academic calendar.
• Dogok (도곡) — upscale residential, home to some of Seoul's most recognizable high-rise apartment complexes.
• Samseong-dong (삼성동) — the COEX Mall and convention center, Bongeunsa Temple, and one of Gangnam's main commercial districts.
• Suseo (수서) — the district's southeastern edge, home to Suseo Station (SRT high-speed rail to the southern provinces) and newer, comparatively more affordable development.

Getting Around

Gangnam-gu is one of the best-connected districts in Seoul. Line 2 runs through Gangnam, Yeoksam, Seolleung, and Samseong stations — the busiest stretch of Seoul's busiest subway line, especially Gangnam Station itself. The Suin–Bundang Line serves Apgujeong-rodeo, Seolleung and Suseo, connecting north toward Wangsimni and south toward Bundang and Suwon. The Shinbundang Line runs from Sinsa through Gangnam Station south to Pangyo and the Bundang/Gwanggyo tech corridor — a common commute for people working in Gangnam but living further south for lower rent. Suseo Station adds SRT high-speed rail access to Busan and other regional cities, plus Line 3, the Suin–Bundang Line and GTX-A. Lines 3, 7 and 9 also run through the district.

In practice, this means most of Gangnam-gu is walkable to a subway entrance, and commuting into it from almost anywhere in the greater Seoul metro area is realistic without a car.

Who Tends to Live Here

Gangnam-gu draws a few distinct groups rather than one typical resident:

• Corporate and finance professionals working along Teheran-ro or in Samseong-dong, who value the short commute over space.
• Families prioritizing education, particularly in Daechi-dong, where proximity to hagwon academies is often the entire reason for choosing the neighborhood.
• Long-term wealthy Korean households, concentrated in Apgujeong, Cheongdam, and Dogok — this is where Seoul's most established, highest-value apartment complexes are.
• Younger renters and startup employees around Yeoksam and Gangnam Station, often in officetels or studios, trading space for location.

It's less common as a first landing spot for foreigners on a tight budget — rents and jeonse deposits here run well above the Seoul average — but it's a strong fit if proximity to work, prestige schooling, or the district's retail and dining density matters more than square footage.

Price Tier vs. the Rest of Seoul

Gangnam-gu is one of the most expensive districts in Seoul for both jeonse deposits and monthly wolse rent — expect a meaningful premium over comparable units in most other central districts. Apgujeong and Cheongdam sit at the very top of that range; Suseo and parts of Yeoksam are comparatively more attainable while still inside the district. Pricing shifts with the market, so read any figure, including the ones below, as a snapshot — Seoul Homes' price data reflects current listings, not a static estimate.

Is Gangnam the Most Expensive Area in Seoul?

Not on every measure. On Seoul Homes' own listings, the median home for rent costs more a month in Yongsan-gu than in Gangnam-gu, while Gangnam-gu costs more for the space you get. The figures below are long-term rentals of homes (standard monthly-rent leases) listed on this site on 8 October 2026; short-term furnished lets, offices and shops are left out.

• Yongsan-gu: median rent ₩8.0 million a month, median size 148㎡ (30 listings). In Hannam-dong alone the median was ₩9.5 million for 157㎡ (12 listings).
• Gangnam-gu: median rent ₩5.0 million a month, median size 64㎡ (21 listings, 13 of them in Yeoksam-dong).
• Seocho-gu: median rent ₩3.5 million a month, median size 59㎡ (23 listings).

Divide rent by size and the order changes: about ₩78,000 per ㎡ a month in Gangnam-gu, ₩60,000 in Seocho-gu and ₩53,000 in Yongsan-gu. Part of that gap is size, since smaller homes cost more per ㎡ everywhere and the Gangnam listings are less than half the size of the Yongsan ones. So the short answer: per ㎡, Gangnam-gu is the most expensive of the three; per home, Yongsan-gu is, because the homes listed there are much larger.

These are asking rents on one site on one day, not official market averages, and with counts this small a few listings move a median. The price data page is recalculated from current listings every hour, so its medians will move away from this one-day snapshot. To see the top of the market, browse luxury homes in Seoul.

Browse Listings

Browse Gangnam-gu properties on Seoul Homes, filtered by neighborhood, property type, and lease structure — or read Where to Live in Seoul to compare Gangnam against Seoul's other major districts.