Gangnam, celebrated in PSY's 2012 song Gangnam Style, may indeed be a very rich part of Seoul, but ask South Koreans and most will say its prestige pales in comparison to that of Hannam-dong: an area between Namsan, the mountain south of downtown Seoul, and the Han River bisecting the capital.

The Lee family that controls the Samsung Group, not to mention the Chungs behind Hyundai Motors, the retail and food giant Lotte's chairman, and vice chairman Chung Yong-jin of the Shinsegye Group (which owns the supermarket chain e-mart among other enterprises), all have homes there. The K-pop group BTS kept their accommodation in the Hannam The Hill compound on the way down to the river, and two of its members, Jimin and RM, reportedly bought units in the recently constructed Nine One Hannam on the other side of the avenue.