Tourist brochures rarely tell the whole story. In this Tourist Season replay, Joe and Shawn revisit one of the podcast's most popular travel episodes, uncovering the wars, massacres, murders, ghost stories, and redevelopment controversies hidden behind some of Korea's best-known tourist destinations.
Topics Discussed
- Tourist Season summer replay series
- Why famous destinations deserve deeper historical context
- Incheon and the Battle of Incheon during the Korean War
- The 2017 Incheon child murder case
- Jeju Island and the Bukchon Massacre
- The Jeju Uprising
- Bukchon Hanok Village and developer Jeong Se-gwon
- Ghost legends surrounding Bukchon
- Ikseon-dong before it became Seoul's trendiest neighborhood
- Operation Butterfly and Seoul's former red-light district
- Gentrification and commercialization of Ikseon-dong
- The anonymous donor of Jeonju's Tree of Hope
- The restoration of Cheonggyecheon and its impact on merchants
- Listener mail: Why do Korean hikers wear bells?
Timestamps
Tourist Season introduction
Horror movie watch parties and summer updates
Why every tourist site has a darker history
Incheon and the Korean War
The 2017 Incheon child murder
Jeju's Bukchon Massacre
Bukchon Hanok Village beyond the postcards
Ikseon-dong before the cafés
Jeonju's anonymous Christmas donor
Cheonggyecheon before restoration
Listener mail: Korean hiking bells
Mentioned During the Episode
- Incheon
- Wolmido
- Jeju Island
- Bukchon
- Bukchon Hanok Village
- Ikseon-dong
- Cheonggyecheon
- Jeonju
- Jeong Se-gwon
- Lee Myung-bak
- Operation Butterfly
- The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk
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About The Dark Side of Seoul
The Dark Side of Seoul explores Korea's hidden history, true crime, folklore, ghost stories, urban legends, disasters, political scandals, and the strange corners of Korean culture that rarely make it into guidebooks. Hosted by long-time Korea residents Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey, the show blends historical research, cultural analysis, and firsthand experience to examine the people, events, beliefs, and mysteries that have shaped the Korean peninsula.
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