Most popular Korean drama filming locations in Seoul’s subway stations for dark, spooky scenes, and for brighter, happier ones

By Ko Dong-hwan South Korean directors and production crews are using a wider range of locations for their television and film shoots. As the industry emerges from the pandemic, the health risks associated with filming are lessening. Now, the most popular locations for filming, according to the city government of Seoul, are the city’s subway stations. Watch recent TV drama hits like the court comedy Extraordinary Attorney Woo, streaming on Netflix, or the fantasy Reborn Rich, streaming on Disney+, and you will notice the different settings in some of the scenes. Statistics from 2022 show how the trend is rising compared with previous years, when the country was more deeply concerned about the ongoing pandemic. The Seoul Metropolitan Government said over the weekend that the trend is likely to keep growing as quarantine measures become less stringent. On January 30, the country repealed almost all remaining indoor mask-wearing rules that had been in force since the pandemic’s onset in 2020. Seoul Metro, the city government’s subway operator, which oversees 344 stations on nine subway lines, said it approved 216 shoots in 2022 for TV dramas and movies at subway stations. The figure is up significantly from 2021 and 2020, when such shoots took place 86 and 66 times, respectively. “The figures show that shoots took place last year at least once every two days at one of our stations,” an official from the company said. Meet Park Hyung-sik, star of K-drama Our Blooming Youth and K-pop singer The trend becomes more apparent when it includes non-paid shoots by students for school projects, and government offices for public campaigns. Such shoots took place 58 and 66 times in 2020 and 2021, respectively, rising to 120 times in 2022. The city government requires drama, movie, commercial and other productions to remunerate Seoul Metro for filming on location at a station. Not all subway stations satisfy location scouts. There are only so many settings unique enough to satisfy directorial cues and the presence of actors. Our Blooming Youth: period K-drama with refreshing gender roles When dystopian, eerie or dark spaces are required, the most popular stations have been a closed platform in Sinseol-dong Station, on Seoul Metro lines 1 and 2, and Yeongdeungpo Market Station, on Seoul Metro Line 5. Each station has an underground space that is inaccessible to the public – extra convenient for producers who want to film away from commuters. Both spaces are unused and incomplete, with bare concrete and exposed pipelines in the floor, walls and ceiling. They present an ideal space for getting the right mood, completely detached from the brightly lit topside. The unused platform at Sinseol-dong Station, nicknamed the “ghost platform”, has been used as a location for multiple hit projects, including the 2015 drama Spy, the 2016 horror comedy Let’s Fight, Ghost, and the 2013 action-thriller film Cold Eyes. Get ready for Extraordinary Attorney Woo the musical, and US remake But for shoots that require a brighter mood, Sindap Station on Seoul Metro Line 2 has emerged as a popular location. Unlike most stations, its platform is above ground. The space also boasts an extra layer of natural beauty with features including trees, flowers, suffusing sunlight and a promenade. K-pop boy band 2AM used the location for the video for a Seoul Metro public campaign song. So did the 2018 series Rich Man. Another feature a production crew looks for inside a station is space, so it’s easier to fit in the cast, crew and passers-by. This is what made the Sports Complex station on lines 2 and 9 such a popular site. The 11 most exciting K-dramas returning in 2023, from The Glory to Sweet Home Reborn Rich, the highest-rated TV show in 2022, did an on-location shoot here. The upcoming flick Dream, starring A-listers Park Seo-joon and singer IU, also filmed here. Kim Jung-hwan, chief of Seoul Metro’s promotion bureau, said he hopes the city’s metro lines and stations – which make up one of the world’s highest-quality metro systems – will contribute to the rise in Korean content globally. However, he reminded producers that the company strictly adheres to regulations regarding the issuance of advanced approval for filming so that commuters are not affected. Read the story at The Korea Times