I went on a tour of Dongdaemoon to see the seedier side with my friend Paul. We found a seedy grey market that sold power tools and sex toys. We also slipped inside a building that looked like it had been destroyed by fire. On the way down we saw a sign that was totally in Korean except four letters: "CCTV." We knew we could get in trouble, so we hurried off down the nearest alley.

As we walked, a police car pulled into the alley behind us. Paul was worried, and I told him to just keep walking and act natural for as long as possible. The police car pulled up right behind us and blared its siren. We kindly moved out of the way for it to pass, and it did. I could see the driver chuckling to himself as he noted we were foreigners and therefore clueless about what predicament we'd gotten ourselves in.