OLD and rundown. These are not the usual words you would pluck out from the word-mill when you refer to Seoul, the sleepless and mammoth capital of South Korea. After all, Seoul is a gleaming vision of all things new – new tech, new pop music and new-age vanities (highest per capita rate of cosmetic surgery in the world).
Ask any Seoul native, transplant, or tourist where to go for thrilling rides and colorful attractions. You will find that the answer is always a toss between amusement giants, Lotte World or Everland. Nobody mentions Yongma Land. Opened in 1983, Yongma Land was once a busy destination, until a decade after, the then-new mega-parks rolled into town. It had to finally bow out of operations in 2011.
Those years of being inutile took a hard toll on the park’s attractions. The merry-go-round is tilted heavily to one side without need of provocation. The life-sized furry rides with their bright eyes and permanent smiles have been dimmed by wear. Ageing with the rest of the scenery is a piano, missing most of its teeth, of course.
By all indications, the stage was set for Yongma Land to retire. That is, until K-pop intervened. Location scouts stumbled upon this abandoned beauty and in 2013, its features went from forgotten to viral when K-pop singers (Crayon Pop) performed around the park. Rabid fans tracked down the park and in a strange plot twist, Yongma Land is now a photo-op haven for those in the know.
But, first, how do you get there?
In spite of a revival of interest, there are, fortunately, no scheduled group tours plotted for Yongma Land. Taking a cab is the easiest way to reach the park, Trip Advisor and other blogs have advised. But if you are not in a particular crunch, you can take the bus like we did and make a stop at the “Yongma Park Entrance”. The park is a good 15 minute hike from the stop as it is nestled on the hilly side of Yongmasan, Jungnang District of Seoul.
Expect no signage hinting that you are going in the right direction. You should be getting closer when the neat rows of houses eventually open up into a quiet road filled with overgrown hedges and a thicker cover of trees. Keep walking until you reach a large, dilapidated gate with Yongma Land’s namesake in Hangeul (Korean alphabet).
Admission is not free.
Unlike most popular amusement parks, no long queues will torment you. Nobody exactly mans the admission gate either. In our case, we let ourselves in, loudly said “Annyeong!” to no one in particular before an elderly man appeared from out of a nearby kiosk, with his palms held out. This was the cue to hand him a 5,000 Korean Won bill as admission fee.
The best time to go.
The park’s abandoned charm is magnified by sunset. But as first-time wanderers in Seoul, we went for a late morning visit to Yongma Land. This proved to be a good decision because the hilly pathways leading to the park are less intimidating when bathed in the morning sun.
If you are aiming for a sundown trek, by all means, do. Bring additional warm layers of clothing as it can get chilly and a camera that bodes well in low lighting conditions. Note that the sun usually sets at seven in the evening in Korea. Here is a tip: For an extra 15,000 Korean Won, the owner can light up the the merry-go-round so you can have your money shot.
Go trigger-happy.
Yongma Land owes its new lease in life to ruins photography, or what is more popularly termed now as “ruin porn.” As per Wikipedia, ruin porn is a recent movement in photography that takes the decline of the built-environment as its subject.
There being no restrictions upon admission to the park, the guests come ready to explore and just go trigger-happy. Now, if you are a fan of the elusive street artist Banksy like I am, this place might remind you of his temporary art project in Somerset, England in 2015. Cheekily called “Dismaland,” Banksy described it as a “family theme park unsuitable for children.” While Yongma Land is also no longer suitable for children, its conversion into a ‘ruin porn’ site is less deliberate as Banksy’s so-crafted “bemusement park.”
You can comb all of the park’s main attractions in half a day. Most of the park’s guests seem to know what to expect and have carefully curated frames and props. Watching your fellow guests stage their shoots and ham it up before the camera is an unavoidable attraction in itself. We are all tourists in this curious age of Instagram, after all.