Breaking in Seoul

SOUTH KOREA is known for many things: kimchi, K-pop bands, inventive electronics, Korean dramas and cultlike beauty products. Breakdancing doesn't exactly come to mind, even though South Koreans have been a dominant force on the international b-boy scene for 15 years.

Originally founded in the 1970s, primarily by black and Puerto Rican youth in the Bronx, breakdancing (a term coined by the media and detested by some) was a catchall to incorporate an array of dances - toprock, downrock, power moves and freezes - performed during the break beats of hip-hop and funk songs.

B-boys and b-girls were influenced by everything from Brazi…