Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Historic sites & memorials
김해시
Bongha Village in Jinyeong-eup, Gimhae, is where Roh Moo-hyun, Korea's 16th president, was born, where he returned to live after leaving office, and where he died on 23 May 2009. It is an ordinary farming village known for sweet persimmons…
Historic sites & memorials
부산
At first glance the 40-Step Stairway in Jungang-dong, Jung-gu, is just a flight of stone steps between buildings, but for people in Busan it is a symbol of the Korean War years. During the war, refugees built shacks around here and toiled…
Historic sites & memorials
부산
On a grassy rise by the sea on the east side of Yeongdo Island, layer upon layer of shells discarded by Neolithic people over thousands of years lie under the turf. It looks like an ordinary lawn, yet this is one of the oldest and largest…
Historic sites & memorials
부산
In April 1592, Japanese forces landed at Busan and the Imjin War began. Busanjin Fortress and Dongnae Fortress were the first to be attacked, and many commanders, officials and ordinary people died defending them. Chungnyeolsa, in Allak-do…
Historic sites & memorials
부여군
On the northern edge of downtown Buyeo, where Busosan hill meets the plain, lies a wide stretch of lawn. It looks like a park, but this is believed to be the royal palace of Sabi, Baekje's last capital from 538 to 660. In 2015 it was inscr…
Historic sites & memorials
부여군
During the 538–660 Sabi period, when Baekje ruled from what is now Buyeo, its kings and royal family were buried on a hillside at Neungsan-ri just east of town. The grass-covered round mounds lined up on a south-facing slope look modest, b…
Historic sites & memorials
부여군
In an open field in the middle of Buyeo stands a stone pagoda that has kept its place for almost 1,400 years. Jeongnimsa Temple Site was the main temple of the period when Sabi (today's Buyeo) was the Baekje capital (538–660), and its five…
Historic sites & memorials
삼척시
Jukseoru is a pavilion perched on the cliffs of the Osipcheon River, which loops through central Samcheok. Of the Eight Scenic Views of Gwandong praised by Jeong Cheol in his "Gwandong Byeolgok", all the other pavilions overlook the sea; J…
Historic sites & memorials
서산시
On the slopes of Gayasan in Seosan, a short climb from the Yonghyeon Valley leads to a cliff where three Buddhas are smiling. After more than 1,300 years of wind and rain, their full cheeks and gentle smiles are still clear. The Rock-carve…
Historic sites & memorials
고양시
Seooreung in Yongdu-dong, Deogyang-gu, Goyang, is a cluster of royal tombs of the Joseon dynasty. The name means "five tombs in the west": five royal tombs of kings and queens, plus several tombs of princes and royal consorts, are spread a…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Dongmyo, formally Donggwanwangmyo, is a shrine to Guan Yu, a general of China's Three Kingdoms period. A Chinese general's shrine in the Joseon capital may seem odd, but it is a legacy of the Imjin War, the international conflict of the 15…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Just inside the main gate of Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul Munmyo and Sungkyunkwan preserve a shrine to Confucius and the highest state academy of the Joseon dynasty within one walled compound. The old lecture hall and student dormitories…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
In Joseon Korea the phrase "jongmyo-sajik" simply meant the state, and Sajikdan was one of its two pillars alongside the royal ancestral shrine of Jongmyo. Set on the lower slopes of Inwangsan west of Gyeongbokgung Palace, this is where th…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
The Samjeondo Monument is a stele that Joseon was forced to erect to the "virtues" of the Qing emperor Hong Taiji after surrendering to the Qing in the war of 1636. Its official name is the Stele to the Merits and Virtues of the Emperor of…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
On the east bank of the Han River, the Amsa-dong Prehistoric Site is where Neolithic people lived in a village about 6,000 years ago. An exhibition hall built directly over the excavated house pits and a park dotted with thatched pit house…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Joseon kings are buried in royal tombs called neung, but this grave in Banghak-dong, Dobong-gu, is merely a myo. That is because it belongs to Yeonsangun, the tenth Joseon king, who was deposed after a reign of terror, and his wife, Lady S…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
In the Bukhansan foothills of Seongbuk-gu, Jeongneung is the tomb of Queen Sindeok, second wife of King Taejo, founder of the Joseon dynasty. Once a royal tomb in the heart of the capital, it was pushed out by political rivalry and neglect…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
In Gongneung-dong, Nowon-gu, Seoul, next to the national athletes' training village, lie two Joseon royal tombs. Taereung belongs to Queen Munjeong, third consort of King Jungjong, and Gangneung to her son King Myeongjong and Queen Insun.…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
A few minutes' drive from Gangnam's office towers, stone officials, warriors, horses and sheep stand in rows on grassy mounds among the pines. Heonilleung is the joint name of two royal tombs where King Taejong, the third ruler of Joseon,…
Historic sites & memorials
서울특별시
Seonjeongneung is a group of Joseon royal tombs in Samseong-dong, Gangnam, right next to the office towers of Teheran-ro. The name combines Seolleung and Jeongneung, where King Seongjong (the 9th king), his queen Jeonghyeon and their son K…
Historic sites & memorials
부산
The Busan place name "Suyeong" is a shortened form of Sugun Jeoldosayeong, a naval command headquarters. Suyeong Historical Park in Suyeong-dong occupies the site of the Gyeongsang Left Naval Command (Gyeongsang Jwasuyeong), which led the…
Historic sites & memorials
아산시
This shrine honours Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the naval commander who led Joseon's fleet during the Japanese invasions of the 1590s. The grounds in Asan were also his home in his younger years, so alongside the hall that holds his portrait you c…
Historic sites & memorials
안동시
Dosan Seowon brings together the small school where Toegye Yi Hwang, Joseon's most celebrated Confucian scholar, taught his students and the academy his followers built after his death. It sits on a hillside above the Nakdonggang River in…
Historic sites & memorials
안동시
Imcheonggak is the head house of the Goseong Yi clan, set on the slope of Yeongnamsan on the eastern edge of Andong and looking out over the Nakdong River. A family home from the middle of the Joseon period surviving to this day would be r…