The Dark Side of Seoul Podcast

Why do ghosts conveniently conform to the culture of the people seeing them? Korean folklore gives us the cheonyeo gwishin, Western traditions have their own recognizable specters, and decades of movies have taught us that ghosts should be translucent, vaporous, and obviously dead.

Joe and Shawn question whether any of those images are useful when examining claims of actual ghost encounters. If ghosts represent a genuine phenomenon, Shawn argues, their basic characteristics should remain consistent across cultures. The conversation moves from Korean folklore and Shakespeare to filmmaking, Newfoundland ghost traditions, the concept of han, trauma as an explanation for hauntings, and the surprisingly mundane descriptions that appear in some of the more convincing alleged encounters.

More in Shawn’s newsletter article The Most Haunted Place on Earth!

Topics Discussed

The problem with culturally specific ghosts

Folklore versus alleged paranormal phenomena

Korea's cheonyeo gwishin

Women in white and long-haired ghosts

Similar ghost imagery outside Asia

Why folklore shouldn't be treated as scientific explanation

Shakespeare and ghosts on stage

How theater and cinema shaped the translucent ghost

Alleged ghosts that look completely human

The possibility of encountering a ghost without realizing it

Newfoundland ghost traditions

The Irish and Newfoundland "fetch"

What makes somewhere "the most haunted place on Earth"

Trauma as an explanation for hauntings

Han and Korean ghost folklore

Why claims that han is uniquely Korean create a logical problem

Skepticism and paranormal research

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction
06:00 Defining the problem with ghosts
10:00 Folklore as explanation
11:36 What if ghosts are real?
13:00 Korean ghost imagery
15:00 Fictional ghosts versus alleged encounters
17:30 Ghost imagery across cultures
20:00 The mundane ghost
22:00 Theater, film, and translucent spirits
25:00 Ghosts we may not recognize
27:00 Newfoundland's "fetch" tradition
29:00 The most haunted place on Earth
31:00 Trauma and restless spirits
33:00 Han and Korean ghosts
34:50 Final discussion
36:30 Listener shout-out

Mentioned During the Episode

Cheonyeo gwishin

Hamlet

Watership Down

Newfoundland ghost folklore

St. John's Haunted Hike

The Irish/Newfoundland "fetch"

Han (한)

The Korean Ghost and Mr. Skeptic

Shawn Morrissey's newsletter, Welcome to Savage Haller

The Most Haunted Place on Earth (Depending on Who You Ask)

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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Joe visited a brand-new free museum in Seoul's Insadong neighborhood built on a six-year archaeological excavation. The dig exposed a layer of the city from the late 1590s, right before the Japanese invasions reduced large parts of Seoul to rubble. The artifacts are fascinating. The signage is a list of measurements. The actual story, that this neighborhood was frozen in the moment before catastrophe, is buried in a set of video interviews near the back that most visitors probably walk past.

Topics discussed:

Shawn's Substack newsletter Welcome to Savage Hollar, a follow-up Korean urban legends book in progress, and a new book about hauntings in Newfoundland

A new Korea concierge service helping travelers book KTX tickets, baseball tickets, and navigate Korean websites built exclusively for Korean IDs and Korean phone numbers

A live music venue in Nagwon called EDLS with a brew pub, live jazz, rock, and experimental music Thursday through Saturday, 10,000 to 15,000 won cover

The Insadong Urban Heritage Exhibition Hall: what it is, what it contains, and why it fails to explain itself

The history of pimgol, Seoul's network of back alleys designed so commoners could work and move around the city without bowing to aristocrats on horseback

The Gongpyeong regulation requiring archaeological digs before any construction in the Insadong-Jongno area, and the cluster of small underground museums it has produced

A clay jar full of metal movable type, some cast in Hangeul, deliberately buried underground, not lost in a fire but hidden intentionally

Bronze hand cannons stockpiled nearby, and what that stockpile suggests about the circumstances

Why the dig focused on the late 1590s layer specifically: almost nothing from that era survives elsewhere in the city

The Japanese invasions of 1592 as the explanation for everything buried, abandoned, or burned in that layer

Joseon-era astronomical instruments and a water clock of significant mechanical complexity found at the site

Why Korean heritage interpretation consistently describes physical dimensions instead of telling the story, and why a brand-new museum opened in 2026 still has this problem

Practical information:

Insadong Urban Heritage Exhibition Hall (인사동 도시유적전시관)
GI Tower basement, Insadong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Tuesday to Sunday, 9am to 6pm, last admission 5:30pm
Free admission

Resources mentioned:

Shawn's Substack: Welcome to Savage Hall
Korea Concierge: concierge.zenkimchi.com
Dark Side of Seoul tours: darksideofseoul.com

Timestamps not available for this episode.

About the podcast

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.

Some episodes take deep dives into forgotten historical events, serial killers, political intrigue, and supernatural traditions. Others tackle current events and unusual news stories through our shorter "Fun Sized" episodes, connecting today's headlines to larger patterns in Korean society.

Whether we're discussing Joseon-era conspiracies, haunted mountains, cults, disasters, ghost encounters, or modern social issues, our goal is always the same: to explore the darker side of Korea with curiosity, skepticism, and historical context.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Topics Discussed

Insa-dong as one of Joe and Shawn’s first experiences of Seoul
How the neighborhood has changed since the early 2000s
Traditional Korean incense and surviving specialty shops
The hidden waterways that shaped Insa-dong’s streets
Insa-dong during the late Joseon period and Korean Empire
How Japanese colonial rule helped create the antiques district
Looted temple and palace artifacts entering the antique trade
The rise of artists, galleries, tea houses, and literary culture
Crime and kidnapping in old Insa-dong
Poet Chun Sang-byeong and his abduction by the Korean intelligence services
Torture, political repression, and Chun’s disappearance
Insa-dong’s designation as Korea’s first cultural district
Starbucks, Hangul signage, and the commercialization of “traditional” Seoul
Ssamziegil and the transformation of Insa-dong into a shopping destination
Dragon’s Beard candy and Insa-dong’s changing street-food culture
The 2013 Insa-dong fire
Museums, galleries, traditional crafts, and what remains worth visiting
How nostalgia shapes the way longtime residents remember Insa-dong

Timestamps

00:00 Tourist Season introduction

02:10 Introducing Insa-dong and memories of old Seoul

05:00 How Insa-dong has changed

08:00 Traditional Korean incense and surviving old shops

25:10 The geography of Insa-dong and its buried waterways

30:00 Insa-dong during the Korean Empire

35:00 How Insa-dong became Seoul’s antiques district

39:00 Japanese colonial dealers and looted cultural artifacts

42:00 Crime and kidnapping in old Insa-dong

47:05 Poet Chun Sang-byeong and Seoul’s literary culture

48:55 Chun Sang-byeong’s abduction and torture

55:00 The legacy of Chun Sang-byeong

1:00:25 Insa-dong becomes Korea’s first cultural district

1:00:55 Starbucks and the famous Hangul sign

1:04:55 Ssamziegil and the commercialization of Insa-dong

1:09:00 Insa-dong street food

1:10:45 Dragon’s Beard candy

1:36:05 The 2013 Insa-dong fire

1:48:30 What remains worth seeing in Insa-dong

2:00:00 Museums, crafts, tea, and surviving cultural attractions

Mentioned During the Episode

Insa-dong
Cheonggyecheon
Jongno
Joseon Dynasty
Korean Empire
Japanese colonial period
Chun Sang-byeong
Ssamziegil
Starbucks Insa-dong
Dragon’s Beard candy
Korean traditional incense
Insa-dong antique dealers
Insa-dong art galleries
Traditional Korean tea houses
The 2013 Insa-dong fire

Follow The Dark Side of Seoul

Website
https://darksideofseoul.com

Patreon
https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul

Instagram
https://instagram.com/darksideofseoul

Facebook
https://facebook.com/darksideofseoul

YouTube
https://youtube.com/@darksideofseoul

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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Topics Discussed

Nami Island’s origins, General Nami and the false tomb, Korea’s domestic tourism boom, Winter Sonata and the early Korean Wave, K-drama tourism, artist Kang Woo-hyon’s transformation of the island, the Republic of Naminara, tourism marketing, Gapyeong attractions, Instagram tourism, overtourism, and whether Nami Island is actually worth visiting.

Useful Timestamps

00:00 Tourist Season summer replay introduction
00:31 Why are we talking about Nami Island?
02:01 Nami Island wasn’t originally an island
03:07 General Nami and the false tomb
04:22 The Bukhangang “land of tourist traps”
05:28 Winter Sonata changes everything
06:43 How Winter Sonata helped launch the Korean Wave
07:12 K-dramas as tourism marketing
08:17 The artist who reinvented Nami Island
~12:00 The Republic of Naminara and its tourism gimmicks
~18:00 What Nami Island is actually like to visit
~21:00 Other Gapyeong tourist attractions
25:40 Who should actually visit Nami Island?
26:37 The contradiction of “eco-tourism” and mass tourism
27:10 Instagram, influencers, and manufactured destinations
28:01 Closing and Dark Side of Seoul tours
29:34 Final travel advice

Mentioned During the Episode

Nami Island / Republic of Naminara, Winter Sonata, Bae Yong-joon, Choi Ji-woo, Korean Tourism Organization, Bukhangang, Cheongpyeong Dam, General Nami, Gapyeong, Petite France, K-drama filming locations, the Korean Wave, Korean domestic tourism, Instagram tourism, Dark Side of Seoul tours, and ZenKimchi Experiences.

Links

Dark Side of Seoul:
darksideofseoul.com

ZenKimchi Experiences:
zenkimchi.com

YouTube:
Dark Side of Seoul on YouTube

Patreon:
Dark Side of Seoul Patreon

About The Dark Side of Seoul

The Dark Side of Seoul explores the strange, hidden, and occasionally disturbing sides of Korean history, folklore, culture, crime, and travel. Hosted by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey, the show draws on decades of experience living, researching, writing, and guiding in Korea.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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

00:00 Tourist Season introduction

02:30 Horror movie watch parties and summer updates

10:15 Why every tourist site has a darker history

13:30 Incheon and the Korean War

24:00 The 2017 Incheon child murder

37:45 Jeju's Bukchon Massacre

50:00 Bukchon Hanok Village beyond the postcards

1:02:00 Ikseon-dong before the cafés

1:22:00 Jeonju's anonymous Christmas donor

1:33:30 Cheonggyecheon before restoration

1:50:00 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

Follow The Dark Side of Seoul

Website
https://darksideofseoul.com

Patreon
https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul

Instagram
https://instagram.com/darksideofseoul

Facebook
https://facebook.com/darksideofseoul

YouTube
https://youtube.com/@darksideofseoul

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.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.