Great reading that provides a sense of the city, from the Traveler online Ultimate Travel Library.
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The Red Queen, Margaret Drabble (2005)
British feminist novelist Margaret Drabble’s work juxtaposes Seoul past with Seoul present, as a female academic visiting the city becomes entranced by the real historical story of Lady Hyegyong, “The Red Queen,” wife of the mad Prince Sado—“The Coffin King.”
The Koreans: Who They Are, What They Want, Where Their Future Lies, Michael Breen (1999)
The ultimate nonfiction guide to the Korean mind, heart, and Seoul. Be it social culture, history, religion, business or politics, Breen’s 20-plus years in Korea and irreverent viewpoint grant businessmen, tourists, and expatriates the liveliest portrait of this people in English.
Jade Lady Burning, Martin Limn (1992)
Whodunnit set in a racy, 1970s Itaewon—the then-red-light district adjacent to the central city U.S. Army base—in the wake of the Vietnam War. Two maverick U.S. Army detectives investigate the apparent murder of a local prostitute by an American soldier. Brilliantly evokes Seoul’s dark underbelly and juxtaposes Korean and U.S. military culture.
"Seoul Brothers" (in the collection Holidays in Hell), P.J. O’Rourke (2000)
American humorist P.J. O’Rourke's gonzo portrait of riot police battling protestors, set against the backdrop of a newly prosperous Seoul, ignited outrage in Korea when first printed. In retrospect, provides vivid jackboot-level view of days when “people power” flooded the streets and the junta grudgingly granted democracy just before the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
