The front and minarets
White, with Arabic script.
Republic of Korea from Seoul, Republic of Korea — CC BY-SA 2.0 · Toobigtokale — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Toobigtokale — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Toobigtokale — CC BY-SA 4.0
The first mosque in South Korea and its best known, opened in 1976 on a hill in the Itaewon district. The Korean government gave the land to the Korea Muslim Federation, and Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries paid for the building. Before that, Muslims in Seoul prayed in a makeshift hall in the city centre. The mosque has a white front crowned by two minarets and the words «Allahu Akbar» in Arabic script, and can be seen from a distance above the rooftops. It holds a prayer hall for men, a prayer room for women, the federation's offices and a school, and gives lessons in Arabic, English and Korean. Friday prayers draw hundreds of worshippers of many nationalities. The street that climbs to the mosque is Korea's main cluster of halal restaurants: Turkish, Arab, Indian, Malaysian and Indonesian kitchens, plus halal butchers, groceries and bakeries. It is the best place in Seoul for a halal meal and for stocking up for the rest of the trip. The mosque is open for the five daily prayers and welcomes non-Muslim visitors outside prayer times, in modest dress. The walk up from Itaewon Station takes about ten minutes on a steep road.
White, with Arabic script.
Kitchens from across the Muslim world.
Hundreds of worshippers.
39 Usadan-ro 10-gil, Hannam-dong, Yongsan-gu; about a 10-minute walk from Itaewon Station (Line 6), exit 3
The largest cluster of halal restaurants, butchers and groceries is on the street leading up to Seoul Central Mosque in Itaewon, near Itaewon Station on Line 6.
At about 13:00, per visitor guides. Arrive early, as the mosque fills up on Fridays.
