Following the K-Drama Trail: Your Guide to Touring Hotspots in Korea

① Popular locations for filming “The Glory”

As the Korean Wave gains momentum, there is a growing fascination with K-content. Many foreigners, drawn to Korean culture through dramas and movies, often go further by planning trips to Korea. In particular, the filming locations of K-dramas, popularized internationally, are emerging as travel destinations for foreigners in Korea. This phenomenon, known as “contents tourism,” is shaping up as a novel travel trend, leading to an increase in foreign tourists visiting Korea.

The Netflix original series, The Glory, gained immense popularity, sweeping across the globe. Following this success, The Glory Part:2 achieved 124.6 million viewing hours within three days of its release. It secured the top position in Netflix’s global top 10 TV (non-English) category and claimed the overall first position across all English and non-English TV and movie categories.

With the soaring popularity of the series, there has been a surge in interest regarding its filming locations.

Cheongna Lake Park in Incheon’s Cheongna International City is one of the filming locations for The Glory. It is a park nestled among high-rise buildings and serves as a leisure place for citizens. This is where Moon Dong-eun vowed revenge and played a game of Go with Ha Do-young.

A set was built up in Cheongna Lake Park, featuring a sculpture in the shape of a go board next to the Cheongna Pavillion.

Sodol Breakwater in Jumunjin, Gangneung, Gangwon-do, also gained fame as a filming location for The Glory.
This location served as the backdrop for the final episode, the travel location for Moon Dong-eun and Joo Ye-jeong, with the noticeable red lighthouse. Near the Sodol Breakwater is Adeul Rock Park, which is also great to visit.

The iconic lighthouse at the Sodol Breakwater has become a popular backdrop for tourists to capture various photos.

② Travel destinations in the drama ‘Moving’

Busan served as a filming location in the Disney Plus drama Moving. One featured spot is the “Yang Dabang” located in Kangkangee Culture Village in Yeongdo, Busan. It was portrayed as “Eomji Dabang” in the drama. Stepping into Yang Dabang imparts a sense of traveling back in time.

Kangkangee Culture Village, where Yang Dabang is located, is also famous as the location for a legendary ship repair yard. “Kangkangee” refers to the sound made when repairing a ship at the shipyard. That’s how it started being called Kangkangee Culture Village. As a part of the urban regeneration project, artists began infusing the village with their artworks. The introduction of community workshops, village tours, cruise experiences, and a ship experience center started attracting a growing number of visitors.

Kangkangee Culture Village is still where history and art live and breathe. Thanks to Moving, it is also becoming a famous spot in Busan among foreign tourists.

③ Locations known for filming ‘D.P.’

The Netflix series D.P. has garnered a lot of attention. The storyline, which unfolds with the unique theme of “soldiers catching soldiers,” has evoked audiences’ empathy and emphasized humanism’s enduring warmth.

As D.P.  became a hot topic, the filming locations also gained popularity. The central hub, known as the “Military Headquarters” in “D.P. Season 2,” is characterized by a rectangular building with six large round pillars. This place is Kyungnam University’s main hall located in Changwon, Gyeongnam. The first-floor lobby and the basement frequently make appearances in the series.

You might remember a scene where the words “Daehan Ganggun” are displayed behind Colonel Gu Ja-Woon, the head of the legal office at the military headquarters. This scene unfolds on the first floor of the main hall. Also, the sequence in which Oh Min-woo dispatches the D.P. to apprehend the fleeing Ahn Jun-ho was shot in this same location.

D.P. features a vintage Chinese restaurant, “Yeonkyung” in Chinatown, Incheon.

The restaurant, decorated extravagantly from the outside, catches the eye from afar. The interior decor gives the impression of being in a high-end restaurant in China. This is where Ahn Jun-ho and Han Ho-yeol have a meal in the series.

We recommend stopping by here when visiting Incheon’s Chinatown. At Yeonkyung, you can taste various dishes, such as Jjajangmyeon, Samseon Jjamppong, Xiaolongbao, Peking Duck, and Iron Plate Yuringi. Among them, the most famous menu item is White Jjajang, a special dish you can taste at Yeonkyung. It’s a place with good reviews from visitors where you can enjoy Chinese cuisine in a great atmosphere.