Was my trip to Seoul just bad luck, or is it actually not very welcoming to tourists from other countries?

Question

I visited Seoul for a week and came back just yesterday and I had a really bad time although I love the city and the culture so much. I wanted to check if I just had an unlucky trip as a part of me wants to go back but a part of me never wants to return again. During my time there : I got stalked by a man in the Starfield library all the way to outside the mall. Got physically touched and dragged into stores in the namdaemun market and had workers putting items in my cart trying to force sales. Got lectured in a coffee store for ordering an hour before closing time and got served cold coffee. Had people change seats when I sat on the tube and had workers handing freebies pull them away when I walked past. Had corner store workers grab items from my hand and put it to the till before I am done shopping. Had restaurants turn me away for being a solo diner. I didn't go to bbq or large dining places. Got rejected by taxis on my way home from a night out. It got so bad I approached a police officer, translated that I need help finding a taxi as I am tipsy and lost and got shoo'd away with hand gestures. Over all my experience was that they're not very foreigner friendly and rather rude. Not sure if this was due to language barriers or if this is how it is hence I wanted to ask. I'm just a normal looking (in my opinion at least) white Turkish girl so I don't think I was behaving or looking out of place. I was also very quiet and polite so I'm just not sure if I did anything wrong or if this is to be expected ? I'd love to go back for shopping and food and there's a lot of historic locations I haven't seen but I'm scared I will have another bad experience.

heike · Answer

That's a really rough experience. It sounds less like a general unwelcoming attitude towards foreigners and more like a series of unfortunate, and frankly, unacceptable incidents. While some language barriers are inevitable, the aggressive sales tactics, physical touching, and refusal of service are definitely not the norm, even if some individual instances of rudeness might occur. I'd be hesitant to generalize about Seoul's overall attitude towards tourists based on this, especially given the sheer volume of international visitors it receives. Perhaps focusing your future trips on specific, well-reviewed establishments or tours could help mitigate some of these risks.

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