Itaewon (; IPA ) is multi-cultural commercial area located in Seoul, South Korea. it is one of the most popular neighborhoods in Seoul, known for its nightlife and trendy restaurants. Etymology The name Itaewon was originally derived from the name of an inn located there during the Joseon Dynasty. Today it's called Itaewon alluding to its abundance of pear trees (梨泰院). According to a folktale, the name was also written using different Hanja characters that alluded to foreign babies (異胎院). When the Japanese invaded Seoul (1592–1593) during the Imjin War a group of Japanese soldiers seized a Buddhist temple in what is now Itaewon where Buddhist nuns lived. The soldiers stayed at the temple for a while and raped the Buddhist nuns. When the soldiers left they burned down the Buddhist temple. The raped Buddhist nuns now homeless settled nearby and eventually gave birth to children. People from neighboring villages named the area where the children were raised Itaewon in a portmanteau of terms meaning different, foreign and fetus. During the Imjin War this was also where surrendered Japanese soldiers (이타인/異他人) lived. History Itaewon was originally a transportation hub where travelers could get horses during the Goryeo Dynasty (918-1392). During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), Itaewon became more of a significant area. Itaewon became 1637 a refuge for Buddhist nuns and women that had been assaulted by foreign invaders. Itaewon housed the city's largest cemetery until 1937. The recent history of the Itaewons district of Seoul's Yongsan District is closely linked to the US military base Yongsan Garrison established in 1945. With the large number of bars and brothels, the area has been coded as a dangerous place for many Koreans. Here, security was not just a local matter but sometimes blew up into national or geopolitical crises. Since US soldiers were given pleasure leave from 1957, brothels have sprung up in Itaewon. Minors and women were kidnapped and forced into prostitution well into the 1980s, the South Korean government designated some locations as official "comfort facilities" for US soldiers. Twenty years after the Korean War (1950–53), Itaewon became a shopping district. The district became in the time gentrified, and in 2013 the US military moved its base with 17,000 soldiers to southern Seoul. Itaewon also became something of a home for the LGBT movement and was considered to be as open to foreigners as it was to Koreans. However, while