Toksu Palace is opposite the Seoul Plazea Hotel. In the building you will find the Museum of Modern Art.

The museum exhibits 145 videotapes and 26,000 volumes on pottery, relics discovered in ancient ruins, traditional arts and crafts, and other topics on the indigenous cultural legacy of Korea.

The first floor focuses on the history of Korea with sections dedicated to each period.  It also has separate halls dedicated to the Hangul alphabet, and Korean maps throughout the ages.

The second and third floors contain artwork from each period of Korean history, a large area dedicated to Buddhist artwork, donation exhibitions, and a limited selection of art from other Asian countries.

There is a cafeteria inside the first floor and across the entrance near the special exhibition hall there is a larger food court, museum store, cloak room, and a children's musuem.  There are also lockers available for 100 won. 

The 63 Building (known also as the Daehan Life Insurance) sits on Yeouinaru Island in the south central area of Seoul. Open since 1985 it was once the tallest building in Asia.

And once Korea’s tallest building, it offers the visitor many things including first class panoramic views of the city from its ultra stylish skydeck, located (of course) on the 63rd floor.

Its ground floor has recently been remodelled to include a number of trendy eateries along with an IMAX Theatre, Convention Centre, Banquet Hall and Aquarium with some twenty thousand fish on show.

Visiting at night allows for the brilliant sight out across the city. According to ‘Seoul’s Best 100’ tourist guide, “the dark neon-reflecting waters of the Han River can be seen from the observation deck”. For once it is a tourist literature claim that is not exaggerated.

The bridges spanning the Han River are illuminated as are the vehicles snaking down either side of its waters. See the contrasting colours of white headlights and red rear lights. In the middle distance down-town shines brightly and further still, rising on the summit of Mount Namsam is Seoul Tower. Almost all visitors see the view from the tower but to look back the other way on it is just as fine.

The observation deck (7,000won) is spacious, new and modern. There are floor to ceiling windows to lean your camera up against for photographs. Take some. Try walking out onto the glass floor if you are brave enough. See the rainbow tunnel. A café with comfortable seating in the middle of the floor professes a moment to rest.

Seoul Tower may have slightly better views but with the 63 building there is that touch of style (again).

Further it can be quite a romantic place in the evening to bring somebody else. Sitting at a candlelit window overlooking the city sipping on a refreshing smoothie is a guaranteed point winner with whoever your companion might be.

So take a moment before heading straight out to Seoul Tower. Consider the 63 Building. It’ll be hard not to be disappointed with it.

Admission & Operating Hours
63Skydeck 10:00 – 24:00 (last admission 23:00)
63Seaworld 10:00 – 21:00 (last admission 20:30)
63IMAXTheatre (last show 20:10 except Sat, Holiday 21:10)

http://www.63city.co.kr/english/ (All attractions are now open again).

Getting There: Yeouinaru Stn. (Line5, Exit3) then a 10-minute walk.

Memorial near Nakseongdae station.

The War Memorial includes an extensive outside memorial dedicated to the sacrifices of those who fought in the Korean War from 1950-1953, the anniversary of which is celebrated each year on June 25 (Free admission on that day). 

Inside, six exhibition rooms display 13,000 items under different themes and cover all periods of Korean history, with a special emphasis on Korea's military history.  Visitors will experience the spirit of national defense of Koreans in the Combat Experience Room, which was designed with advice from war experts.

Admission is 2000 for adults.

Seoul Grand Park lies south of the Seoul city limits, at the foot of Mt. Ch'onggye in Kwach'on city. It is the nation's largest park complex consisting of the nation's largest zoo and a botanical garden in one compound, and Seoul Land Amusement Park, a hiking trail, a campground and National Museum of Contemporary Art in separate compounds. On a hillside, overlooking the zoo's central pens, is the botanical garden, which houses 169,327 plants from 1,196 different species including tropical plants, subtropical plants, cactus, fleshy plants, oriental orchids, and ferns.

Very good place for your children's education.

Built in 1392 by King Taejo but in its long history damaged and rebuilt quite often. The present structure dates back to the end of the 19-th century. The walled grounds contains some very beautiful pagodas that were brought from all over the country (mostly during the Japanese occupation).

A museum dedicated to promoting and educating about Kimchi in Korea.  It was originally built in 1986.  This relatively small museum is conveniently located inside the COEX shopping mall. 

The first room of the museum discusses the history of Kimchi in Korea through the ages, including the important introduction of red peppers.  Exhibits discuss several of the common ingredients and the process of creating kimchi, as well as role of kimchi in Korean culture. 

A long hallway offers a detailed list of the benefits of Kimchi to one's health and through drawings portrays the exact process by which the fermentation proceeds and why it acquires its particular characteristics. 

A number of computers are available where visitors can learn more about the dozens of varieties of Kimchi from all over Korea by watching short videos about how they are made.

Finally, a Kimchi "field" room allows visitors to make and visit Kimchi during certain hours of the day. 

This historic site houses the burial place of King Gyeongjong.

Still the residence of the former Royal family. Be sure not to miss the secret garden (Piwon). You can only visit palace and garden when you are in a group. Tours take about 1.5 hours.

A harrowing and grisly reminder of Korea under Japanese occupation can be found at Seodeamun Prison. Watchtowers, cells and execution rooms are all preserved complete with graphic dioramas depicting the torture of prisoners.

It is not for the weak-hearted.

But what a visit does do is help convey the extent of Japanese brutality while they were masters of the peninsular from 1910 – 1945. The brutality may not match that of which Nazi Germany metered out in her occupied territories but there was brutality none-the-less.

Some 40,000 people passed through the prison in the years of its operation and perhaps 400 died at the hands of the guards.

Starting the tour in the video and exhibition rooms, background information is provided about its establishment and the spirit of the Korean independence fighters who were incarcerated here. But a great deal of the explanations are devoid of English translations (until the second floor at least). Which makes a tour by an English speaking guide a much more fulfilling experience. And personal.

The second floor gives way to the national resistance room and more history of the prison including the glorification of a fighter who attempted to assassinate the Japanese governor.

Armed with this knowledge the tour continues into the basement of the building, to the temporary detention and torture rooms. The recreation of the torture scenes using animatronics is quite simply: graphic and gory. Speakers concealed about the rooms emit noises of the prisoners screaming in pain.

The most unsettling part however is yet to come, the visit to the execution and torture buildings. Both of which are still intact and preserved.

The original execution building has been standing since 1923. Peer inside to see where the prisoner would sit to go to their death.

Upon coming out of the execution area view the corpse removal tunnel that extends for meters into the earth. Here the guards dumped the bodies in what has now been covered by large apartment block structures.

It’s all rather designed to extract an emotional response from the visitor. And rightly so - bad things happened here. The Korean people still carry the scars of those things that took place.

A visit by former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left him speechless. Visits by Japanese tourists leaves them re-educated. And a visit by you should leave some kind of lasting impression.

With the help of an English speaking guide Seodaeum prison is a must see site in Seoul, unfortunately not for the good things, but the bad things that happened here.

Getting there: By subway Line No.3 (Orange line) until Dongnimmun station. Exit 5.
Adults 1,500won

Cemetry where the youths, that died during the April Revolution in1960, are buried.

This monument was built to commemorate Hyomin-gong.

The National Folk Museum of Korea is located in Gyeongbokgung Palace. Its 25,088 articles well represent the folklore and the traditional lifestyle of Korea. The museum features not only articles of the common folk but also those of the upper class, especially in the Joseon Dynasty (1392 ~ 1910). To get there take the subway to exit 5 at Gyeongbokgung Sta. of Line 3, exit 1 at Anguk Sta. of Line 3 or exit 2 at Gwanghwamun Sta. of Line 5. Alternatively take the intra-city bus and get off at Sejong-ro St. It is 15-minute walk to the museum.

The Achansanseong Fortress is a historic site were one cannot only see the impressive fort, built in the Baekje period, but also take a hike in the natural park.