Asian backpacker

Part 3 of the places you must visit when you’re ever in South Korea. Remember to check out part 1 and part 2 for more highlights!

Party like it’s friday in Hongdae (yes that was a Rebecca Black reference)

The area surrounding Hongik University, or ‘Hongdae‘ (홍대) as it’s affectionately called, is the center of Korea’s youthful nightlife. Many of Seoul’s idiosyncratic clubs that draw the younger set are clustered in the area, and on the last Friday of every month these clubs host a ‘Club Day. While many tend to visit Hongdae only during the bewitching hours at night, it’s interesting to discover that a fabulous Saturday or Sunday can be spent visiting one of the most authentic markets near Hongik University. Here, you can browse around for a few hours, shop and then celebrate your purchases at one of the multitude of clubs or bars until the early hours of the morning.

Visit Jeju Island

Jeju Island, also known as the “Island of the Gods,” is a popular vacation spot for Koreans and foreigners. It remains the top honeymoon destination for Korean newlyweds, and is also regarded as one of the top honeymoon destinations in the world. Jeju is Korea’s capital for unusual themeparks and niche commercial attractions. Oddly somewhat of a duopoly has developed on the island with typically two competing variants on the one theme in Jeju-si and Seogwipo-si, respectively. This trend extends even to the most bizarre ideas with pairs of sex, glass, and teddy bear museums all in existence.

The DMZ

The Korean Demilitarized Zone is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. It’s often said that the DMZ is the most dangerous place on Earth. This distinction is probably technically true – the mountains and hillsides on both sides of the 4km strip of land separating the two Koreas bristles with troops, guard posts, tanks, missile, bunkers, gun emplacements, land mines and other tools of death and destruction. No one can properly take in the entire DMZ area over the course of a single weekend, but if you’re in Seoul, the peace village of Panmunjeom, the touching Imjingak park and the beautiful mountains and rivers of Cheorwon offer the traveler a real glimpse of the history and culture of this most uniquely Korean tourist destination.

CoeX Mall

COEX Mall is an underground shopping mall located in Gangnam-gu Seoul, South Korea. It is Asia’s largest underground shopping mall with an area of about 85,000 square metres. Yes you heard it, Asia-largest-underground-SHOPPING-mall. There are about 200 stores with national brands such as WHO.A.U. and Basic House and international brands such as ZARA, Apple and NIKE. Visit the 16-screen multiplex cinema, Megabox, the Aquarium, the Kimchi Museum or just shop ‘til you drop’. It also features a game area which is used to film computer game tournaments (for which South Korea is known) which are broadcast on local television. There are also stages inside and outside the mall for seasonal events and public appearances by celebrities.