Yes, it does snow in Seoul. But in 2001, it snowed more than usual. Normal winter weather consists of a few inches of snow followed in a few days by a warm up. Total snowfall is often only a few inches for the entire winter. In 2001, it snowed 8 inches right after New Years (the biggest single snow in almost 20 years) and then didn't warm up. Then, a few weeks later is snowed 10 inches (the most in 30 years) and still stayed cold. Below is a view looking down the street (near in the villa in Itaewon where we lived at the time) during the first snowstorm.
Now I know that 18" of snow doesn't sound like much to anyone who has ever lived in real snow country. However, Seoul has a few special complications. First there is no such thing as a level spot in the entire city, at least in the northern half. Second, there is no snow removal equipment, other than a few salt trucks for critical highways. Finally, the side streets are so narrow that one poorly parked car blocks traffic. Below is the hill on the road past the villa in the snow. As you can imagine, this became impossible to drive on when it turned to ice.
The picture below was taken directly in front of our building. Our guard, Mr. Lee (not to be confused with our other guard, Mr. Lee) is clearing the street with his homemade snow shovel. It's a piece of plywood fastened to a stick. After the snow started to fall, the snow shovels sold out immediately. He did a great job of keeping the street clear in front of the building. Of course, since you couldn't get through on the roads in either direction for a week, it didn't make that much difference.
