‘Putin has psychological problems’: how the people of Russian Street, Seoul, see the Ukraine invasion

The Little Russia of the South Korean capital hosts thousands of workers from Russia, Ukraine and other central Asian states. We asked what they thought of Putin’s invasion

While some denounce Russia’s moves as ‘crazy’ and ‘sad’, some caution it’s hard to know which side to believe. Others fear the impact of sanctions on Russian expats

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Russian Street in Seoul at night. Photo: David Lee

Published: 7:00am, 4 Mar 2022Updated: 12:52pm, 9 Mar 2022

Its streets are lined with restaurants serving shashlik and signs using the Cyrillic alphabet; the smell of rising Russian cakes wafts from bakeries and Slavic syllables muttered by passers-by fill the air.

This small neighbourhood could be almost anywhere in Central Asia. But it is actually in Seoul, South Korea, where an area traditionally known as “Dongdaemun Russian Street” has flourished over the decades into a bustling Little Russia.

People from across central Asia began to settle here in the late 1980s, with what began as a trickle turning into a flood after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

Today it is home to tens of thousands of central Asians, not only from Russia, but from former Soviet states like Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Ukraine and from farther afield such as Mongolia.

Given the eclectic mix it’s perhaps not surprising that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has become a hotly debated talking point.

This Week in Asia visited this week to find out what the people of Russian Street felt about the Russian invasion.

Maria, from Irkutsk in Russia, came to South Korea to study seven years ago. She now works in Russian Street. Photo: David Lee