Mix & Match Tour

Mix & Match Tour

Highlights

• One day private or small group tour in Seoul
• See the modern and contemporary Seoul area
• Learn the history of the Joseon period

Minimum travelers 2  /  Duration 6 Hours

Overview

This is a tour that visitors can enjoy the modern and contemporary Seoul area and the culture & history of 7080s Seoul. After listening to explanations about the birth and change of Seoul in the Seoul Museum of History, people visit SEMA Bunker, Seoul Battleship Park, Oil Tank Culture Park, and the 63 Building. Unlike usual Seoul Tours that focus on the Joseon period, this tour shows modern and contemporary Seoul, which is just before Seoul’s current state, as well as the Cold War era Seoul because of its division. For lunch, people visit the Mapo pork ribs restaurant, which is considered the favorite restaurant by office workers in the Mapo district.

Description

Spend a day enjoying the modern and contemporary Seoul City and its culture & history of the 1970s-80s with our special Mix & Match Tour!

This tour starts from your hotel at 9 in the morning. First, we visit the Seoul Museum of History. This is the only museum  (as of today) all over the world that contains a city’s whole history and its culture. The place comprises 5 sections as Seoul of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1863), The Capital of the Daehan Empire(1863-1910), Under Japanese Control(1910-1945), Period of Rapid Growth(1945-2002), and Seoul Panoramic Theater. Especially at the last exhibition hall, you can observe a bird’s-eye view of Seoul, the miniature with a scale of 1/1500 based on aerial photos and precise measurements. Through diverse forms of images, relics, documents, maps, and displays, you can overview a capital city with a history of more than 620 years. Vestiges in Seoul from the prehistoric era to the modern age are on display. You will learn about the past and present of Seoul simultaneously, including its developmental spheres of civilization and the transformation from the Korean War to a rapidly growing metropolis. Also, outside the museum, you can observe a streetcar that ran downtown Seoul in the modern age. The other outdoor monuments are supplementary material from Gwanghwamun(Palace Gate), and Japanese Colonial Government Building, and some relics from historic sites, such as stone statues, Confucianist scholars’ statues, the foundation stone of Bell Pavilion Site, and a 5-story stone Buddhist tower.

SeMA Bunker was a secret underground bunker and is now an art gallery managed by SeMA (Seoul Museum of Art). It was discovered by chance during a renovation of a bus transfer system in this area, Yeouido Island. This bunker was hidden in a 595 m2 space with 5 5-meter height, 10-meter width, and 50-meter length, especially built for the prevention of bombs with 50-centimeter thick hard concrete. Its construction period is presumed to be 1976-77, as no official record about this forbidden spot was found. At that time, the military conflict on the Korean peninsula was highest since, in August 1976, a tragic accident happened in the JSA, where 2 US officers were sacrificed with axes swung by North Korean soldiers. Much more, on top of this bunker, there was the site of a platform for watching massive military parades frequently taking place at that time, which proves this spot’s purpose as a shelter for the President and governmental staff in an emergency. Sure, this contains a President’s Emergency Office. A heritage of the Cold War has now changed into a cultural reservoir after 40 years of its construction. This museum shows the history and discovery of the bunker and Yeouido are as well as special programs and arts exhibitions all year round.

Seoul Battleship Park is the first ship theme park in Korea. Visitors can see the real battleship situated along the Hang Riverfront. The park showcases 3 battleships retired after 30-40 years of duty each. They are Seoul-ham(1,900-ton convoy), a 190-ton submarine, and Chamsuri(high-speed patrol killer), which was the battleship fighting against NK vessels in the 2002 Yeonpyeong Naval Battle on the West Sea. You can look around the inside structure of these battle vessels and indirectly experience the lives of naval soldiers. Much more at the front and end of the board, you have unusual photo zones with the background of ships and the Han River.

Our last destination is Oil Tank Culture Park, a grade-1 security facility that has been strictly prohibited from public access while in use over the past 41 years. The park has been offering art exhibitions and village markets since 2017. These oil tanks were created to secure a stable petroleum supply in 1st Oil Crisis during the Middle East War in 1973. The containers of gasoline, diesel, or bunker C oil were revived after 10 years’ abandonment into a culture center or a storytelling place, equipped with a Glass Dome(T1), a Performance Hall (T2), and a wooden area(T4). Now, this Culture Reservoir Facility, which contains open space for citizens’ cultural and relaxing activities, surrounded by 6 grand tanks, hopes to be a representative attraction for the city’s recycling movement.