80 Cool and Unusual Things to Do in South Korea - Atlas Obscura

Unusual Attractions in South Korea

Seoul, South Korea

Yongma Land Abandoned Theme Park

Plenty of old carney magic still haunts this photogenic amusement park.

Seoul, South Korea

Trick Eye Museum

South Korea's love of the silly photograph is on full display at this goofy collection of trompe l'oeil paintings.

Seoul, South Korea

Cafe Yeonnam-Dong 223-14

Step into a cartoon at this Seoul café that aims to evoke a two-dimensional scene.

Imsil-gun, South Korea

Imsil Cheese Theme Park

A 32-acre fun park dedicated to all things cheese.

Jeju-si, South Korea

Jeju Glass Castle Theme Park

A theme park made of glass, from the gleaming books on the shelves to the crystal fish in the mirror lake.

Gwangju-si, South Korea

Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital

The abandoned hospital whose elaborate ghost stories cover up the dirty truth - an uneventful sanitation issue and other mundane reasons for its demise.

Paju, South Korea

Third Tunnel of Aggression

Secret North Korean passage discovered below the world's most dangerous border.

Jeju-si, South Korea

Jeju Loveland

South Korea's only sex-themed park.

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Cool Places to Eat & Drink in South Korea

Seoul, South Korea

Cafe Yeonnam-Dong 223-14

Step into a cartoon at this Seoul café that aims to evoke a two-dimensional scene.

Imsil-gun, South Korea

Imsil Cheese Theme Park

A 32-acre fun park dedicated to all things cheese.

Seoul, South Korea

Coffee Hanyakbang

About as hidden as can be, this specialty coffee shop is wedged between multi-story buildings at the end of a dark, skinny alleyway in Seoul.

Yangpyeong, South Korea

Dreamy Camera Cafe

This quirky Korean eatery is built to resemble an equally quirky vintage camera.

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Baliair wants to go to Noryangjin Fish Market

Baliair wants to go to Cafe Yeonnam-Dong 223-14

haleyco18 wants to go to Jeju Mermaids

erinsuggs has been to Museum Kimchikan

Ju An has been to Hyangwonjeong Pavilion

Stories About South Korea

The no-man's-land between North and South Korea.

Podcast: Cranes of the DMZ

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.

by The Podcast Team

Earlier this year, excavations at Wolseong Palace unearthed more evidence of human sacrifice during its construction.

Why Were Human Sacrifices Buried Beneath Ancient Korea's 'Moon Castle'?

Remains sealed in the foundations suggest builders would do anything to protect the heart of a fledgling kingdom.

by Bridget Alex

October 15, 2021

Standard toilets like this one are not usually profitable enterprises for the user, but a new project in South Korea is changing that.

Students Are Getting Paid to Poop at a South Korean University

The project transforms human waste into biogas, and allows participants to buy everything from bananas to socks.

by Jessica Leigh Hester

A portrait of Jang Gye-hyang hangs in the Eumsik-Dimibang Exhibition Center.

The Oldest Cookbook in Korean Was Written by a Genius Noblewoman

A poet and artist, she penned the recipes in her old age.

September 3, 2020

The safety doors of some Seoul metro stations are decorated with poetry.

On Streets and Subways in South Korea, Poetry Hides in Plain Sight

You'll find poems in hostels, restaurants, and even on mountain trails—if you know where to look.

August 24, 2020

A shopkeeper in Seoul selling piles of festival treats, in the early 20th.

For Centuries, Massive Meals Amazed Visitors to Korea

Scholars, writers, and missionaries all exclaimed over how much food was available.

September 12, 2019

Slices of dotorimuk.

5 Unique South Korean Foods You Can Order Online

Celebrate the Winter Olympics with tangy rice wine and acorn jelly.

by The Gastro Obscura Team

February 15, 2018

Photographer Sangsuk Sylvia Kang's mother Kyung Ae Lee performs <em>kimjang</em>, the practice of making kimchi, at her home in South Korea.

How Kiddie Pools of Kimchi Bind Korean Families Together

The practice of "kimjang" is about more than fermenting napa cabbage.

by Natasha Frost

January 5, 2018

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