Fancy motels in Gwangju safety hazards, eye sores, says Kwangju Ilbo.

Statue of Liberty atop the Jasmine Motel in Gwangju, from the Kwangju Ilbo.

There are 979 motels and other similar accomodations in Gwangju, says this Kwangju Ilbo article, and not uncommon to see ornate decorations on top. However, these can present a safety hazard if they're not properly installed. For example, the article says, chunks of a motel in Im-dong fell 18 meters to the ground on October 6th, though nobody was injured. Articles from the 6th are here and here, and say the Heart Motel was vacant at the time.


The rest of the Jasmine Motel, from the May, 2009 issue of the Gwangju News.

Furthermore, gaudy motels---specifically those in Sangmu and Gwangsan-gu---damage the beauty of the neighborhood, says the article. If you're unfamiliar, Sangmu is a newer part of town with wall-to-wall love motels (though a Naver search only brings up 52), in addition to not only bars, singing rooms, and massage parlors, but also movie theaters, family restaurants, and outlet malls. Sangmu is indeed a land of contrasts.

In May a writer at the English-language Gwangju News drew attention to these gaudy love motels, and commented that they break up an otherwise dull skyline. Her photo essay also told readers what they were for, as if anyone in town didn't know why there were hundreds of love motels:

In Gwangju, the neon lights of a love motel are never far from view. Young couples use love motels to enjoy a romantic night away from parental scrutiny. Love motels are also a rendezvous point for extramarital affairs. Like beauty pageant contestants, love motels decked out in exotic attire vie for attention along the Gwangjucheon waterfront.

This attracted the attention of a writer at the Jeonnam Ilbo, who said that the foreign writer didn't understand Korean culture and was spreading her ignorance to other foreign readers of the Gwangju News.

In Gwangju, like in most cities and towns in Korea, love motels and apartment buildings are the tallest and most prominent buildings in town. I won't go so far as to say they damage the beauty of the neighborhood---if you've walked by Honam-dong you'll know there's little beauty for the Jasmine Motel to damage---but the tacky statues on the buildings do look ridiculous.