Sites of Korea’s dark tourism

During the Joseon period, smoke signal stations and beacon mounds were used to transmit urgent political or military news by smoke or torchlight. These stations were built on hills where there had once been additional stations roughly six kilometres to the east and west of Sagye-ri’s station.

Seongeup Folk Village

South-west from Seongsan was Seongeup Folk Village. I was hesitant about visiting this site because I’d already seen Jeju Island’s traditional houses when I entered Stone Park. But the difference was Stone Park contained replicas, Seongeup was the real thing.

Bulguksa Temple Museum

The museum was located at the entrance to the temple grounds and housed relics that had been recovered during the excavation of the complex in 1966. While there were crowds milling through Bulguksa Temple, the museum was relatively quiet.

GyoChon Hanok Village

This village was a vast network of traditional houses. Many had been turned into cafes and tourist shops, but when I walked some of the back streets there was a sense of the old.