Ullidan Street

In a quiet residential corner of Uncheon-dong in Cheongju, small cafés, restaurants and gift shops have opened one after another, creating a new street. Its name combines the "Un" of Uncheon-dong with "lidan-gil", borrowed from Seoul's trendy Gyeongnidan-gil. At one end lie the site of Heungdeoksa Temple, where Jikji, the oldest surviving book printed with movable metal type, was produced, and the Cheongju Early Printing Museum, so a museum visit and an alley stroll go well together.

From the museum to the community centre

Ullidan Street runs for less than a kilometre from the Cheongju Early Printing Museum towards the Uncheon-Sinbong-dong Community Center. Many of its shops occupy converted red-brick houses and low buildings, which gives it a different feel from the café strips on the main roads. Street trees line the pavement, making it a pleasant place for a slow walk. One of the oldest shops on the street, the antique store Yennal Yetjip Goldongpum, is crammed with old furniture, transistor radios and other relics.

The side-dish shop from TV

The "National Best Banchan" side-dish shop run by Jeon Do-yeon's character in the tvN drama "Crash Course in Romance" (2023) was filmed on this street. In reality a café in Uncheon-dong was dressed up as the shop and returned to normal after filming, but after the broadcast fans began coming from as far as Daejeon, Ulsan and Incheon to take photos.

The neighbourhood of Jikji

The museum grounds at the end of the street mark the site of Heungdeoksa Temple, where in 1377 the Buddhist text known as Jikji was printed with metal type. The temple's location was unknown for centuries until 1985, when a scrap dealer sifting through soil dumped at the Uncheon housing-development site found a bronze gong inscribed with the name "Heungdeoksa". Construction stopped at once; the site was excavated and designated a Historic Site, the main hall and a three-storey stone pagoda were rebuilt, and the museum opened in 1992. The only surviving copy, the second volume, is held by the National Library of France, and Jikji was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World register in 2001. The museum explains in detail how metal type was cast and printed. Stop by before or after your walk to see the history of metal-type printing, and the neighbourhood takes on a different meaning.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: 1–1.5 hours for the street and a café; half a day if you include the printing museum.
• Hours: each shop sets its own hours and days off, so check the ones you want to visit.
• Getting there: take a bus or taxi in Cheongju to the Early Printing Museum, which is at the start of the street.
• Etiquette: people live in the houses between the shops. Don't take photos in front of homes or make noise.
• Drama location: the building dressed up as the side-dish shop is an ordinary business today. Don't photograph the inside while it is open; take your picture from outside.
• Route: visit the printing museum first, then walk along Ullidan Street towards the community centre, so the museum and a café break flow naturally.
• Nearby: the Early Printing Museum and the Heungdeoksa site are right next door, and Cheongju National Museum and Sangdangsanseong Fortress are a short drive away.