Descendants of the Sun Day Trip to Taebaek: 1 Spot (1 Confirmed)

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Descendants of the Sun (태양의 후예) aired on KBS2 from February to April 2016, in 16 episodes. Captain Yoo Si-jin (Song Joong-ki), a special forces officer, falls for surgeon Kang Mo-yeon (Song Hye-kyo) at Uruk, a fictional war-torn country where his unit is keeping the peace. It streams on Netflix in some regions.

Nearest rail station: Taebaek Station. From Seoul this is a long trip, so plan an overnight stay rather than a day trip — the stay note in this guide says the same.

Uruk was filmed in two places in Korea. The field hospital and the earthquake scenes were filmed here in Taebaek. The army camp is Camp Greaves in Paju, near the DMZ (our Paju guide). The Taebaek set is named by VisitKorea and several newspapers, so it is confirmed.

Taebaek: the old Hanbo coal mine

Taebaek grew up around coal mining, and the drama’s set was built on the site of the closed Hanbo coal mine in Tongni, in the east of the city. The production team built the Medicube field hospital and the unit’s buildings there, and used the mine’s old office building for the scenes after the earthquake, according to press reports.

What’s left today

The set was built on state forest land on condition that the site be restored, and most of it was taken down soon after filming. By May 2016 only the mine’s damaged office building was left standing, according to eToday.

After fans kept arriving, Taebaek City rebuilt part of the set in 2016, and in 2017 it added a small park with a copy of the drama’s Uruk church (Seoul Shinmun). The rebuilt set is now part of Tongni Tantan Park, a park on the old mine site that also has two former mine tunnels turned into light displays (Hankyung, 2024). The park is run by the Taebaek Facilities Management Corporation, which opened a self-service cafe there in 2025, according to Gangwon Domin Ilbo.

We could not confirm from an official page what the park looks like in 2026, whether the Uruk church copy is still there, or current hours and prices. Check the operator before you go.

The set’s second life: the Couple Festival

The set’s afterlife took an unusual turn. In May 2017, after a Descendants of the Sun Park was founded on the set, Taebaek began holding a Couple Festival there, inspired by lead actors Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo, who had met while filming and married in 2017 (Korea JoongAng Daily, 2022). The first festival drew more than 17,000 visitors; the second, in July 2018, drew 9,000. Events included a hugging competition and other games for couples, plus a wedding-themed photoshoot for married couples.

The festival’s history then tracked the actors’ real lives. As the city was preparing the third festival in June 2019, news broke that the couple had filed for divorce, and the third festival was cancelled abruptly. The city considered abolishing the festival altogether but decided to continue it; no festivals were held in 2020 or 2021 because of COVID-19. It resumed in September 2022 after a four-year break.

The festival is not described here as currently annual: editions after the September 2022 resumption are not confirmed by any source checked for this guide. Nor is it presented as a celebration of the couple — its 2019 cancellation is part of the story.

While you’re in town: Hwangji Pond

Hwangji Pond, in the centre of Taebaek, is the source of the 420 kilometre-long Nakdong River (Taebaek City tourism). Water springing from the pond flows across the Yeongnam Plain: the pond is divided into an upper, a middle and a lower pond, from which 5,000 tons of water flow daily. Local legend says the pond was once the residence of a rich man named Hwang — his mansion collapsed into the ground and became the pond — and that it was earlier called Cheonhwang, meaning “heavenly pond”.

Hwangji Pond is NOT a filming location for Descendants of the Sun: no source connects the pond itself to filming. It is included here only as a nearby sight in the city centre — it is also the subject of this guide’s hero photo — not as a second stop.

The 2016 rebuild drew crowds

When Taebaek City rebuilt part of the set in 2016, the restoration recreated the medical camp (Kang Mo-yeon’s station) and the Taebaek military troop base (Yoo Si-jin’s station). Yonhap reported 7,810 visitors in 11 days from August 1, jumping 66 percent to 12,997 after the August 12 opening — more than 20,000 in total — with around 1,000 foreign tourists between April and August 2016.

Getting to Taebaek

Taebaek is in the mountains of eastern Gangwon, a long way from Seoul. Check Korail for trains from Seoul to Taebaek, then search the route to Tongni Tantan Park on Naver Map (English UI). Look up the day’s schedule before you set off, as the route and times can change.

For other Gangwon filming trips, see our Winter Sonata guide (Nami Island, Chuncheon) and Goblin guide (Jumunjin Breakwater, Gangneung).

There is no KTX to Taebaek. Trains from Seoul leave from Cheongnyangni Station on the Taebaek Line: ITX-Maum takes about 3 hours and Mugunghwa-ho about 3.5 to 4 hours, depending on the train. Intercity buses leave from Dong Seoul Bus Terminal (Gangbyeon Station, Line 2) roughly every 30–50 minutes and take about 3 hours 10 minutes. Taebaek’s bus terminal sits right next to the station, so rail–bus transfers are easy. Check Korail on the day, and use Naver Map for the local route to Tongni Tantan Park; no local bus number was verified, so do not rely on one.

The trip is 3–4 hours each way, so an overnight stay makes it far easier than a day trip, which matches this guide’s stay note.

Nearby in Taebaek

None of these is a filming location for the drama, but all pair with the set in one trip:

• Taebaek Coal Museum (195 Cheonjedan-gil), one of the largest coal museums in the world, covering the coal industry’s history, mining techniques and miners’ daily lives through dioramas and an experience tunnel. VisitKorea lists hours 09:00–18:00, closed Mondays.
• Hwangji Pond in the city center, the source of the Nakdong River, in three ponds discharging about 5,000 tons of water a day, surrounded by a small public park and open year-round.
• Taebaeksan National Park, designated South Korea’s 22nd national park in 2016, with a 1,566.7 m summit, the Cheonjedan altar where heaven rites were performed, ancient yew forests, and a January snow festival at the Danggol entrance.
• 365 Safe Town, a safety-themed experience park with disaster simulations (earthquakes, wildfires, floods) and outdoor activities.
• Gumunso and the Taebaek Paleozoic Museum, a natural stone gate where the Hwangji-cheon stream pierced a massive limestone rock, with fossils including trilobites next door.
• Aurora Park on the former Tongni Station site, with scale models of famous high-altitude stations and a 32-metre observation tower. Note this is a different attraction from Tongni Tantan Park, in the same Tongni area — do not conflate them.

Tips

Taebaek is a high mountain city: winters are cold and snowy, summers cool highland weather, so pack for altitude in any season. The park’s 2026 operating state, hours and admission could not be confirmed from an official page — the operator is the Taebaek Facilities Management Corporation, so check before you go.

Sources

All sources for this guide

Accessed Sep 30, 2026 (Asia/Seoul) unless noted.

1. VisitKorea — Descendants of the Sun filming location: Taebaek Hanbo mine

2. VisitKorea — Descendants of the Sun filming locations

3. Kyunghyang Shinmun — Chinese TV crew visits the Descendants of the Sun set (Apr 13, 2016)

4. Seoul Shinmun — The empty Descendants of the Sun set in Taebaek (Mar 31, 2016)

5. eToday — The Descendants of the Sun set today (2016)

6. Seoul Shinmun — Taebaek rebuilds the Descendants of the Sun set (Apr 19, 2016)

7. Seoul Shinmun — Uruk church rebuilt in Taebaek (May 18, 2017)

8. Sisa Journal — A coal town’s Descendants of the Sun set

9. Hankyung — Tongni Tantan Park, Taebaek (Mar 29, 2024)

10. Gangwon Domin Ilbo — Cafe opens at Tongni Tantan Park (2025)

11. Taebaek Facilities Management Corporation — facilities

12. Netflix — Descendants of the Sun

13. Korail — https://www.letskorail.com/ebizcom/cs/guide/guide/guide11.do

14. Korea JoongAng Daily — Taebaek Couple Festival to resume after four years this weekend (Sep 15, 2022) (Oct 28, 2026)

15. Taebaek City tourism — Hwangji Pond (Oct 28, 2026)

16. Yonhap via InvestKorea — Taebaek set visitor numbers (Sep 1, 2016) (Oct 28, 2026)

17. Yonhap via Korea Portal — Taebaek set reopens to the public (Aug 13, 2016)

18. Wikivoyage — Taebaek (transit ranges, nearby sights)

19. VisitKorea — Taebaek Coal Museum

20. Taebaek City tourism — Hwangji Pond

21. Korea National Park Service — Taebaeksan National Park

22. Taebaek City — 365 Safe Town