Yongma Land: The Abandoned Amusement Park in Seoul

Yongma Land (용마랜드) is a small failed amusement park in northeastern Seoul that has become popular with photographers and photo-op seeking teenagers in recent years. The abandoned amusement area offers some of the standard rides like the iconic carousel and the “Viking” as well as a mini train that is now covered in vines.

Whether you’re looking for abandoned places in Seoul or want to film your own Kpop video to mimic your favorite artists, this is the place to go in Seoul. It’s not the most common addition to a Seoul itinerary, but it’s a cool spot if you want something unique in the capital of Korea.

Plan a trip to Yongma Land:

• How To Get To Yongma Land
• Basic Info
• What is Yongma Land?
• What To Expect
• Filming Location

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How To Get To Yongma Land

Address: 118 Mangu-ro 70-gil, Jungnang-gu, Seoul, South Korea (서울특별시 중랑구 망우로70길 118)

By Public Transportation: Take the subway to Mangu Station and take exit 1. It’s a 10-15 walk.I’d recommend just hopping in a taxi because it’s easier than trekking up. I probably wouldn’t have minded the walk in autumn or spring though. What with visiting in the humid summer though, we enjoyed that taxi ride.

BE AWARE: Many taxi drivers do NOT know about Yongma Land because it is technically closed. They may try to tell you it is not open, which is true, but be persistent and kind and they’ll get you there.

Parking: You can also drive if you have a car because they do have a free parking lot.

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Basic Info

Admission: Adults: W10,000; Children: W5,000 for regular entrance. They accept cash or bank transfer but no cards so keep that in mind. 

• If you rock up and there is no one at the booth, look for a sign with a cell phone number that you can call to find the attendant. 

Restroom: Yes, there is a bathroom with working water and tissue and everything so don’t worry. It’s dilapidated, but not that dilapidated.

Tips and Tricks:

• Take a change of clothes if you want to go all out photo-op fun. There are places you can skedaddle behind and into to change it up a bit.
• Take a tripod because it just makes everything that much easier.
• Take friends because it’s way more fun… just look at these pics!
• The manager did have water, balloons with helium and some other props on hand that could be purchased for minimal fees so see what he has.
• Feel free to move things around a bit. While I personally don’t rock up to abandoned places and go around touching things, there were others that were. The big flower by the steps in our photo below was not there when we originally went. It was on another wall and then while we were taking pictures somewhere else, someone moved it over. Make your own beauty.

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What is Yongma Land?

Yongma Land is a dilapidated amusement park in Seoul where people head to take photos, Kpop dramas have been filmed, and Kpop videos have been shot. It’s a popular stop for photographers and cosplayers.

Yongma Land originally opened in 1983. This and other parks that were small and set up in more difficult places to get to all went out of business back in the 80s after Lotte World opened in 1989 and the humble neighborhood play areas were left to disarray.

When I say more difficult, I mean, Yongma Land is up a hillside and not right outside of a subway station so keep that in mind. There’s a bit if a walk which isn’t impossible by any means but in the humidity of the summer, I wouldn’t try it personally.

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What To See

Yongma’s hey-day was back in the 80s thus you can see faded 80s pop icons on posters and other retro relics. The amusement park was abandoned for some time, however, with the recent onslaught of interest in nostalgic aesthetic photos and dystopian environments, it is anything but abandoned these days. Rather than just crumble on the mountainside, it’s kept up just enough to be an awesome photo backdrop.

Sure, the rides have rusted a bit and some of the plants have been allowed to take over, but that’s what calls people. That dilapidated look is all the rage. I will say, even though there is rust, the space has been kept clean. There isn’t trash or lingering smells from anything.

The Yongma Studio in one building is also new and clean and is a sure sign the park will likely not be abandoned again for some time because it’s just too cool for school. The studio isn’t open to just anyone though. It was locked up tight when we visited so if you’re interested in going inside to more a pristine studio while on the site, you’ll have to talk to the manager about that.

The dilapidated scenes make perfect backdrops for fun photos with friends but also for video productions and professional photo shoots as well so don’t be surprised if you rock up and see some recognizable faces. Singer IU, and Crayon Pop’s music video for “Bar Bar Bar” both utilized Yongma for their own videos. Wouldn’t it be cool to stage a scene straight out of one of their flicks?

Another sign that the park hasn’t gone completely to the wolves is that the lights still work. If you stay into the evening, the manager collecting fees will turn on the lights and the merry-go-round will dazzle as the sun sets.

Be sure to ask if you want to see the lights. The manager is known to turn them on for free but might also request a W25,000 electric bill fee. If he asks for the fee, just round up the other photographers and go in on it together. It’d be worth it to see the twinkling lights on the carousel for sure. We didn’t stay into the evening on our visit, but seems like a rather romantic setting if we had and they were turned on.

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Filming Location

Wondering where you might have seen Yongma Land before? There have been a lot of Korean dramas, variety shows, and Kpop videos filmed at Yongma Land. Want to film your own music video in Seoul? This is the place to do it. Get inspiration in the shows and music videos below.

• Sisyphus: The Myth (시지프스) starring Park Shin Hye
• More Than Friends/Number of Cases (경우의수) with Shin Ye Eun and Ong Seong Wu from Wanna One
• Healer (힐러) of Park Min Young and Ji Chang Wook
• Tell Me What You Saw (본대로 말하라) 
• Pretty Boy (예쁜 남자) starred by Jang Keun-suk and IU
• Room No. 9 (나인룸) starring Kim Hee-Seon of Tomorrow
• Perfume/Peopyoom (퍼퓸)
• Tale of the Nine-Tailed (구미호뎐) starring Lee Dong-Wook and Jo Bo-ah
• Alice (앨리스) by Kim Hee-Seon and Joo Won

Music Videos that were filmed at Yongma Land:

•  WJSN CHOCOME (우주소녀 쪼꼬미): ‘Super Yuppers!’ (슈퍼 그럼요) (2021)
• Dreamcatcher (드림캐쳐): ‘BEcause’ (2021)
• Girl’s Day (걸스데이): ‘I’ll Be Yours’ special clip (2017)
• Juniel (주니엘) and CNBLUE’s Lee Jong-hyun (이종현): ‘Love Falls’ (사랑이 내려) (2016)
• Voisper (보이스퍼): ‘In Your Voice’ (그대 목소리로 말해줘) (2016)
• To-day (오늘): ‘Secret’ (비밀이에요 (2016)
• Eric Nam (에릭남) and Red Velvet’s Wendy (웬디): ‘Spring Love’ (봄인가 봐) (2016)
• Beast (비스트): ‘Ribbon’ (리본) (2016)
• N White (앤화이트): ‘Paradise’ (천국) (2015)
• Twice (트와이스): ‘Like Ooh Aah’ (OOH-AHH하게) (2015)
• B.A.P (비에이피): ‘1004’ (2014)
• EXO’s Xiumin (시우민): ‘A Glass of Soju’ (소주 한 잔) (2014)
• Baek Ji-young (백지영): ‘Hate’ (싫다) (2013)
• Crayon Pop (크레용팝): ‘Bar Bar Bar’ (빠빠빠) (2013)

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