Why visit Seoul, Yongin and Hadong on this trip
Welcome, First Time in Korea? (어서와~ 한국은 처음이지?) is a long-running MBC every1 travel reality show following visitors on their first trip to Korea. In spring 2026 its guests were KPop Demon Hunters co-director Chris Appelhans, his Korean wife and their young son. Appelhans co-directed the film with Maggie Kang; Sony Pictures Animation produced it, Netflix released it on Jun 20, 2025, and it follows the K-pop girl group Huntr/x, who lead double lives as demon hunters. The trip aired May 21 to Jun 4, 2026, and press coverage said he was also looking for sequel ideas.
That connection is what makes this trip worth copying. Four public stops cover three very different kinds of Korea: taekwondo at Kukkiwon, where the directors had visited as an action reference while making the film; a Joseon-era village rebuilt from real houses at the Korean Folk Village; and Hadong, Korea’s tea country, with a traditional market and the Toji hanok complex near the Seomjin River. In airing order: sport, then history, then market and literature.
Everything listed here is public and visitable on your own. Lodging, restaurants without a published name and private places are not listed.
Seoul and Yongin
Kukkiwon
What the episode shows. In the May 21, 2026 episode, the family visits Kukkiwon, the World Taekwondo Headquarters, for a taekwondo session. Press coverage says the directors had visited it as an action reference while making KPop Demon Hunters.
What to see. VisitKorea says Kukkiwon was established in 1972 and serves as the headquarters of World Taekwondo. It trains taekwondo instructors, researches taekwondo techniques and hosts the World Taekwondo Hanmadang. The nearby Kukkiwon Memorial Hall collects and exhibits artifacts related to taekwondo’s history. Kukkiwon also appears in this show’s UK friends’ Busan trip, where the friends tried a taekwondo class.
How to get there. Kukkiwon is at 32 Teheran-ro 7-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Find the route on Seoul Metro or Naver Map.
Tips. VisitKorea lists the Memorial Hall as open 09:00–17:30 with a lunch closure 11:30–13:00, free entry, and closed on national holidays and Kukkiwon organization holidays. Check Kukkiwon’s official site for public programs and performance days before you go.
Korean Folk Village
What the episode shows. In the May 28, 2026 episode, the family spends a day at the Korean Folk Village, according to Sports Kyunghyang.
What to see. The village opened on Oct 3, 1974, as Korea’s first open-air museum. More than 260 traditional houses stand here: real houses from across the country were relocated and restored to create a replica of a village from the late Joseon period, with houses of different social classes — peasant, landowner and yangban — from various regions. Performances and seasonal events run through the year, so check the official site for the schedule on your date.
How to get there. The village is at 90 Minsokchon-ro, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, south of Seoul. Plan the trip with the Kakao Map and Naver Map links on this card.
Tips. Allow half a day. VisitKorea lists hours of Monday–Thursday 10:00–18:00 and Fridays and weekends 10:00–22:00, and fees of 37,000 won for adults and teenagers, 30,000 won for children and 26,000 won for senior citizens. Prices and hours change, so check the official site before you go.
Hadong
Hwagae Market
What the episode shows. In the Jun 4, 2026 episode, the family stops at Hwagae Market in Hadong and tries river oysters (beotgul), according to BizEnter.
What to see. Hwagae Market is a traditional market in Hwagae-myeon, Hadong, and the place to buy the area’s famous green tea. VisitKorea calls Hadong the premier tea producer in Korea, with records of tea harvests dating back nearly 1,000 years, and says its green tea was long recognized as “royal green tea” because it was presented to the royal court. The Hwagae Market Cherry Blossom Festival takes place here in spring, and the Ssanggye Tea Museum sits in the market itself.
How to get there. The market is at Tap-ri, Hwagae-myeon, Hadong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. Search for Hadong on Korail for trains on your travel date, and plan the last leg with a map app.
Tips. Stalls and restaurants keep their own hours. VisitKorea lists the market’s phone number as +82-55-883-5722.
House of Choi Champan
What the episode shows. In the same June 4 episode, the family visits the House of Choi Champan, the hanok complex known as the setting of Park Kyong-ni’s novel Toji, according to BizEnter and Newsinstar.
What to see. VisitKorea says the house consists of fourteen hanok buildings in a folk-literature village in Pyeongsa-ri, along the Seomjin River at the foot of Jirisan Mountain. It was used as the main set of the drama version of Toji (2004) and gives visitors a look at life in the late Joseon era. The Daecheong Maru, the wooden-floored hall connected to the men’s quarters, offers a wide view over the Pyeongsa-ri fields. The Toji Literature Festival is held here every fall. The house is also a drama filming location: Pressian reported Love in the Moonlight filming there in 2016 — see Love in the Moonlight across Korea.
How to get there. The house is at 66-7 Pyeongsari-gil, Hadong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do. Search for Hadong on Korail for trains on your travel date, and plan the last leg with a map app.
Tips. VisitKorea lists hours of 09:00–18:00, open all year round, and fees of 2,000 won for adults, 1,500 won for teenagers and 1,000 won for children. The listed phone number is +82-55-880-2651. Nearby, VisitKorea names the Pyeongsari Literature Center, Hwagae Market and Ssanggyesa Temple, so the market and the house pair naturally in one Hadong day.
Plan your trip
Follow the airing order. Kukkiwon (May 21), then the Korean Folk Village (May 28), then Hadong’s Hwagae Market and the House of Choi Champan (June 4). Base yourself in Seoul first, then Hadong: the “Where to stay” links on this page search by neighborhood rather than naming the places the family stayed, which are not listed.
Seoul to Hadong. Search Seoul → Hadong on Korail for trains on your travel date, and plan the last leg with a map app. Within Seoul and Yongin, find each leg on Seoul Metro, Kakao Map or Naver Map.
More on this site. For the film itself, see KPop Demon Hunters in Seoul: real backdrops you can visit. For another trip on the same show, see Welcome, First Time in Korea? — UK friends in Busan. For more Hadong filming, see Love in the Moonlight across Korea.
FAQ
Is this a filming-location guide for KPop Demon Hunters?
No. These are the places the travel show Welcome, First Time in Korea? visited with the film’s co-director in spring 2026. For the film’s Seoul backdrops, see KPop Demon Hunters in Seoul.
Why is every place labeled “reported”?
Each place traces back to the broadcaster’s episode publicity. Kukkiwon has two outlets (BizEnter and Topstar News) and the Choi Champan house has two (BizEnter and Newsinstar), but in each case both outlets carry the same publicity, so each place still has a single origin. “Reported” means a second, independent source is still missing.
When did the episodes air?
The trip aired on MBC every1 from May 21 to Jun 4, 2026: Kukkiwon on May 21, the Korean Folk Village on May 28, and the two Hadong stops on June 4.
Can I stay where the family stayed?
No. Lodging and private places are not listed in this guide. Only public places appear.
What are Kukkiwon’s Memorial Hall hours, and does it cost anything?
VisitKorea lists the Memorial Hall as open 09:00–17:30 with a lunch closure 11:30–13:00, free entry, and closed on national holidays and Kukkiwon organization holidays. Recheck hours on the official listing before you go.
What are the Korean Folk Village’s hours and admission?
VisitKorea lists Monday–Thursday 10:00–18:00 and Fridays and weekends 10:00–22:00, with fees of 37,000 won for adults and teenagers, 30,000 won for children and 26,000 won for senior citizens. Prices and hours change, so check the official site before you go.
What are the House of Choi Champan’s hours and admission?
VisitKorea lists 09:00–18:00, open all year round, with fees of 2,000 won for adults, 1,500 won for teenagers and 1,000 won for children. Recheck on the official listing before you go.
Will this page use images from the show?
No. All photos here are location photos of the real places, credited on each card. No stills from the show are used.
How we checked
A spot is confirmed when two independent sources name it as a filming location; it is reported when the sources trace back to a single origin. All four places here are reported: each traces to MBC every1’s episode publicity carried by press outlets. Kukkiwon (BizEnter and Topstar News, both May 21, 2026) and the House of Choi Champan (BizEnter and Newsinstar, both June 2026) each have two outlets, but both outlets in each case carry the same publicity, so neither gains a second independent source. The Korean Folk Village (Sports Kyunghyang) and Hwagae Market (BizEnter) each have one outlet.
During the Oct 18, 2026 enrichment we added practical information from VisitKorea for Kukkiwon, the Korean Folk Village, Hadong tea and Hwagae Market, and the House of Choi Champan — addresses, hours, fees and nearby places — plus film background from Wikipedia for KPop Demon Hunters and village history for the Korean Folk Village. Those sources describe the places and the film; they do not change the filming-location statuses above, which still rest on the episode publicity. We do not list private homes, lodging, or unnamed businesses, and we do not claim exact bus routes or interior filming without a source. Hours and fees change; recheck the official listings before you go.
Last checked: Oct 18, 2026 for spot status and practical details. We re-verify spot status periodically and update when places close, change, or gain new sources.
Photos: Every stop on this page carries a verified location photo — Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0 / CC BY 4.0) or KOGL Type 1 — credited on its card, plus the hero image of Kukkiwon (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0). No stills from the show are used.
Sources
All sources for this guide
Accessed Oct 1, 2026 (Asia/Seoul) unless noted.
- Star News — Appelhans arrives to film Welcome, First Time in Korea? (Apr 1, 2026)
- Sports Kyunghyang — Family trip to Korea (May 15, 2026)
- BizEnter — Taekwondo at Kukkiwon (May 21, 2026)
- Topstar News — Kukkiwon visit (May 21, 2026)
- Sports Kyunghyang — Korean Folk Village (May 27, 2026)
- BizEnter — Hwagae Market and the Choi Champan house (Jun 4, 2026)
- Newsinstar — Choi Champan house episode (2026-06)
- Pressian — Dramas filmed at the Choi Champan house
- VisitKorea — Kukkiwon (World Taekwondo Headquarters) (accessed Oct 18, 2026)
- VisitKorea — Korean Folk Village (accessed Oct 18, 2026)
- VisitKorea — Hadong tea, Hwagae Market (accessed Oct 18, 2026)
- VisitKorea — House of Choi Champan (accessed Oct 18, 2026)
- Wikipedia — KPop Demon Hunters (accessed Oct 18, 2026)
- Wikipedia — Korean Folk Village (accessed Oct 18, 2026)
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