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Crash Landing on You (사랑의 불시착) aired on tvN from December 2019 to February 2020, in 16 episodes. Son Ye-jin plays Yoon Se-ri, a South Korean heiress who paraglides into North Korea by accident, and Hyun Bin plays Ri Jeong-hyeok, the North Korean officer who hides her. It was written by Park Ji-eun, who later wrote Queen of Tears (our Queen of Tears guide). It streams on Netflix.
The leads have other guides here: Hyun Bin in Made in Korea and Son Ye-jin in The Scandal.
The three Chungju places below are each named by both VisitKorea and Chungju City, so all three are confirmed. They cover two very different sides of the story: a quiet riverside farewell on Binaeseom Island, and a reunion and a second romance around the pagoda park and the lakeside walk.
Where was “North Korea” filmed?
None of the drama was filmed in North Korea. According to press reports at the time of broadcast:
- The North Korean village and army post were reportedly sets built on idle former military land in Mukgye-ri, Hoengseong, Gangwon. We found no official source on whether the set still stands, and it was never presented as a place to visit.
- The DMZ scenes were reportedly filmed on Jeju, among the island’s volcanic cones (oreum). We found no official source naming a specific spot, so none is listed.
- Pyongyang Station was reportedly filmed in Mongolia.
Chungju stood in for North Korea too: the picnic on Binaeseom takes place on the North Korean side of the story.
Chungju: Binaeseom Island
Check access first. Binaeseom became a national wetland protection area in 2021. Part of the island is also used as a U.S. Forces Korea training ground for up to 48 days a year, according to a 2021 Chungbuk Ilbo report. We could not find an official training calendar or closure notice, so contact Chungju City before you go. Cars, camping and cooking are banned on the island. Korea.net independently notes the same training closure point, so the warning rests on more than one source — but it still does not give you a calendar to plan around, which is why the check with Chungju City matters.
The island sits in the middle of the Namhan River and is covered in silver grass. VisitKorea says it is where Se-ri has her last picnic with the soldiers before she leaves for the South, in episode 6. VisitKorea’s itinerary describes the gathering as a campfire farewell, and notes that the silver grass and riverside reeds around it are part of the scene’s atmosphere — which is also what visitors still see here in autumn, when the grass is at its best. In 2020 Chungju City put up signboards and a banner of the episode 6 scene; we could not confirm they are still there. A two-day silver grass festival has been held on the island in autumn (News1, 2024).
If you do go, expect a walk rather than a boardwalk stroll. VisitKorea’s Binaeseom trail listing describes farm roads and village paths, nearly flat and usable by families, with views of the Namhan River and the island in autumn. It divides the trail into two courses: a shorter course of about 7 km, about 2 hours, passing a migratory-bird observation area, a riverside trail and an old quay; and a longer course of about 17 km, about 4 hours, via an observatory that returns by the same riverside route. Those are VisitKorea’s listing figures, not a suggestion to walk the full course — pick the shorter route unless you have a full day and have already confirmed access. Entry is free, according to the same VisitKorea listing. We do not publish a parking claim for the island itself: the listing notes parking availability but does not make clear whether it sits on the island approach or at the trailhead, so that detail stays unverified.
Chungju: Jungangtap Historic Park and Tangeumho Rainbow Road
The park and the lakeside walk sit next to each other, so plan them as one stop. In the park, the Silla-era stone pagoda known as Jungangtap is the backdrop for the episode 12 scene where Jeong-hyeok’s men find him and Se-ri again, according to Chungju City.
The pagoda itself is worth a longer look than a backdrop deserves. VisitKorea’s park listing explains the name: the Unified Silla stone pagoda was the largest stone pagoda of its time, and because it stands in the middle of the country it was called Jungangtap (“jungang” = middle). The ground around it was made into a sculpture park. Korea JoongAng Daily, drawing on Cultural Heritage Administration material, gives the pagoda’s height as 14.5 metres and calls it the tallest pagoda of the Unified Silla period. We do not republish a heritage designation number for it here, because the older numbering found in this pass is dated and could not be re-verified against the heritage authority’s current listing.
Beyond the pagoda, the park rewards lingering. A riverside walking path runs beside the Namhan River, lined with sculptures and photo zones, according to VisitKorea’s filming-locations article. The same article presents a large moon replica set against the seven-story pagoda as an evening photo spot, and reportedly notes that a bench associated with the drama can be found in the park. Treat that bench as a reported feature to look out for, not as a confirmed surviving prop: no second source confirms it is the bench from filming, and we do not claim that it is. VisitKorea’s park listing describes the park as free and open around the clock. Chungju Museum stands in the park area, at the same bus stop as the park, if you want more than the pagoda and the river path — but we publish no museum hours here, because the hours found in this pass came from a single listing mirror and still need checking against Chungju City.
Tangeumho Rainbow Road, a floating walkway on the lake, starts just to the north. VisitKorea’s filming-locations article describes it as a 1.4-kilometre bridge lit in colour at night, with a large bright moon replica floating on the river beside it, and notes a musical fountain show as a summer feature. VisitKorea’s Korean listing adds the walk’s history: it is a floating bridge on Tangeumho, originally built as a relay and broadcast structure for the 2013 World Rowing Championships, and used as a walking and cycling path when no competition is on. Each section pairs its lighting with music, and the full route takes about an hour. Go in the late afternoon and stay for the lights — but note what we do not publish: no nightly switch-on time and no fountain show times, because no qualifying source gave them, and no fee, because no qualifying source stated one.
The walk also carries the story’s second romance. VisitKorea’s filming-locations article reportedly presents the lakeside walk as the place where the second couple, Seo Dan and Gu Seung-jun, express their true feelings for each other, calling them the series’ popular second love arc. We keep that framing deliberately mild: it is a reported scene detail from a single VisitKorea article, not an upgraded claim about the scene, and it does not change the walk’s confirmed status as a filming location.
Also nearby (not filming locations)
- Muhak Market: a traditional market in central Chungju, listed by VisitKorea. It is not a filming location of the drama. VisitKorea describes it as the largest market in the city, with an alley dedicated to sundae and mandu, and notes that Chungju-style sundae soup is known for including dried radish leaves. Worth a stop for food on a Chungju day, but nothing here ties it to the drama, and no drama link should be implied. We publish no market hours here, because the hours found in this pass came from a single listing mirror and still need checking against Chungju City.
Getting to Chungju
Check Korail for trains from Seoul to Chungju, then search each place on Naver Map (English UI). KTX serves Chungju on the Jungbu Naeryuk (Central Inland) line, whose first section between Icheon and Chungju opened with KTX-Ieum trains, according to Railway Gazette International. We publish no Seoul–Chungju journey time or fare: the aggregator figures found in this pass disagree because they use different endpoints, so journey times vary depending on the train/route — check Korail for your train. Express and intercity buses run from Seoul’s 동서울종합터미널 and 센트럴시티터미널 to 충주공용버스터미널; check the official timetable (Chungju City: intercity buses, checked Sep 29, 2026).
From 충주공용버스터미널, buses 112-1 and 411 go to 중앙탑사적공원 / 충주박물관 (Chungju City tourism, checked Sep 29, 2026), and buses 360, 364 and 365 go to 오대호아트팩토리, about 4.1 km from Binaeseom (VisitKorea, checked Sep 29, 2026). Check the official timetable on the Chungju bus information system. We could not confirm a public bus to Binaeseom, and the other places are in different parts of the city. Look up the day’s route on Naver Map before you set off.
Sources
All sources for this guide
Accessed Sep 28, 2026 (Asia/Seoul); new entries 18–24 checked Oct 25, 2026.
- VisitKorea — 재미와 낭만, 모두 챙기는 충주여행
- VisitKorea — Yu Soo-bin & Tang Jun-sang’s Pick: Chungju
- VisitKorea — Tangeumho Rainbow Road
- VisitKorea — Muhak Market
- Kyunghyang Shinmun — Chungju City to develop Crash Landing on You locations (Feb 13, 2020)
- Joongdo Ilbo — Chungju City: Jungangtap in Crash Landing on You (Feb 4, 2020)
- Kyunghyang Shinmun — Binaeseom natural rest area (Sep 24, 2020)
- Ministry of Environment — Binaeseom wetland protection area
- Chungbuk Ilbo — Binaeseom wetland designation and the training ground
- News1 — Binaeseom autumn festival (2024)
- Gangwon Domin Ilbo — Hoengseong Mukgye-ri as a filming site
- eToday — Crash Landing on You filming locations
- Netflix — Crash Landing on You
- Korail — https://www.letskorail.com/ebizcom/cs/guide/guide/guide11.do
- Chungju City — Intercity buses (checked Sep 29, 2026)
- Chungju City tourism — Jungangtap Historic Park (checked Sep 29, 2026)
- Chungju City — Bus information system (checked Sep 29, 2026)
- VisitKorea — K-drama filming locations article (Jungangtap bench and moon replica; Rainbow Road 1.4 km, moon replica, summer musical fountain)
- VisitKorea — Chungju Jungangtap Park (pagoda history, free, open 24 hr, parking)
- VisitKorea — Binaeseom Island, Binae Trail (trail courses, free)
- Korea.net — Dramatic Spots (Binaeseom picnic; training closure)
- Korea JoongAng Daily — Tappyeong-ri seven-story stone pagoda (14.5 m)
- VisitKorea — Chungju Muhak Market (largest market in the city, sundae and mandu alley)
- Railway Gazette International — First section of the Central Inland Railway inaugurated (KTX-Ieum, Icheon–Chungju)
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