When Life Gives You Tangerines in Korea's Mainland: 6 Spots (3 Confirmed)

Set in Jeju, filmed across Korea

When Life Gives You Tangerines (폭싹 속았수다) is a Netflix series released on Mar 7, 2025, following Ae-sun (IU, later Moon So-ri) and Gwan-sik (Park Bo-gum, later Park Hae-joon) from their childhood in 1950s Jeju. It is set in Jeju, but press reports noted that little of it was filmed there, and Jeju Province responded by announcing a larger filming set and higher incentives to attract productions.

The 1950s Jeju village of Dodong-ri was a set built on unused land in the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government new town in North Gyeongsang, with support from the province. It had around 80 thatched houses, basalt walls, a harbor and fishing boats, and it was taken down after filming ended. There is no drama village to visit, in Jeju or on the mainland.

For the real Jeju places, see our Jeju guide. The mainland places below are ones you can still visit.

Jeonju

Jeonju City says the drama filmed in the city on 14 shooting days in 2023 and 2024, naming the Hanok Village, Gyeonggijeon, Jeondong Cathedral and Namcheongyo Bridge. Street scenes were also reportedly filmed around Jinbuk Plaza, Paldal-ro and Chunggyeong-ro in the old downtown, dressed to look like 1990s Seoul.

Suncheon Drama Film Set

Suncheon City lists the drama among productions filmed at its outdoor set, which recreates 1960s–80s streets and hillside neighborhoods. The same set appears in Our Unwritten Seoul.

Gochang

The green barley fields of Hakwon Farm were filmed during the 2023 barley festival; the production company later apologized to visitors for crowd control, Segye Ilbo reported. Gochang County holds the barley festival at the farm each spring and added drama photo zones in 2025. Korea JoongAng Daily confirms the scene where Ae-sun and Gwan-sik walk together holding hands, with Gwan-sik confessing his feelings, was shot here in a field of canola flowers. The farm spans about 122 acres, with green barley and canola in spring, sunflowers in summer, and buckwheat and cosmos in fall, and signposts marking the drama’s photo zones. The county’s Green Barley Festival at the farm ran April 19 – May 11 in 2025; check the county’s notice for current-year dates rather than assuming the same window.

Churches near Daegu

Ae-sun’s wedding was filmed at Gasil Catholic Church in Chilgok, according to Segye Ilbo and Kyongbuk Ilbo, with interior scenes at Gyesan Catholic Church in central Daegu, according to Maeil Shinmun. Both are working parish churches.

Gwangju

Gwangju Cinema is the real-life theater for the scene where Geum-myeong meets artist Chung-seop, Korea JoongAng Daily reports; in the drama it is called Cannes Theater. The cinema has operated since 1935 and is the country’s only remaining single-screen theater, according to VisitKorea.

Lost filming spots

The Dodong-ri village set, North Gyeongsang. The 1950s Jeju village was built in the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government new town near Andong and removed after filming because of upkeep costs, Maeil Shinmun reported. Other dramas in the region, such as The Scandal and Our Sticky Love, still have places to visit.

Getting there

• Jeonju, Gochang, Suncheon: from Seoul or Busan, check Korail or intercity buses, then Naver Map (English UI).
• Chilgok and Daegu: check Korail to Daegu, then Naver Map.
• Gwangju: check Korail to Gwangju-Songjeong, then Naver Map.

The places, in brief

• Jeonju Hanok Village area: more than 700 traditional hanok houses in a continuous, lived-in district, not a museum recreation. Gyeonggijeon Shrine at the village’s heart was built in 1410 to enshrine the portrait of Joseon founder King Taejo; directly across the street stands Jeondong Cathedral, completed in 1914 on the site where Korea’s first Catholic martyrs were executed.
• Suncheon Drama Film Set: opened in 2006 and recreates three areas — 1980s Seoul downtown, a 1960s hillside shantytown, and Suncheon streets from the 1950s to the 1970s. It is a walkable outdoor set with period storefronts, a theatre and dance hall, and costume rentals for photos. No public source describes which scenes or eras within the set were used for this drama specifically, so none is claimed here.
• Gasil Catholic Church, Chilgok: the parish was founded in 1895 and the current Romanesque red-brick building was built in 1922–1923, designated Gyeongsangbuk-do Tangible Cultural Property No. 348. A statue of Saint Anne and Mary brought from France in 1924 is the only one of its kind in Korea, and Mass is still held at the church.
• Gyesan Catholic Church, Daegu: designed and built under Father A.P. Robert, burned down within a year, and completely rebuilt in 1902; the only building in Daegu retaining its early-20th-century appearance, Romanesque in design with Gothic elements including spires and stained glass. Relics of St. Andrew Kim Taegon, Korea’s first Catholic priest, are enshrined inside.

The wedding attribution is kept as the papers state it — Ae-sun’s wedding at Gasil per Segye Ilbo and Kyongbuk Ilbo, interiors at Gyesan per Maeil Shinmun — and is not restated as settled fact beyond those attributions.

Nearby

None of these is a filming spot for this drama, but each pairs with its region’s stop:

• Jeonju: Omokdae, the hilltop viewpoint above the Hanok Village, where Yi Seong-gye is said to have celebrated a victory in 1380, giving the classic rooftop view over the village.
• Suncheon: Suncheon Bay Wetland Reserve, with reed-field boardwalks and observatories — a nature counterpart to the period set.
• Gochang: Gochang Dolmen Site, with 447 Bronze Age dolmens, inscribed with Hwasun and Ganghwa on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2000.
• Chilgok: Waegwan Benedictine Abbey (Saint Benedict’s) on the Nakdong River, near Gasil Church, with a stained-glass workshop on its grounds.
• Daegu: Dongsan Cheongna Hill, with three early-1900s missionary houses and the March 1st Independence Movement Road (the 90 Steps) running down toward Gyesan Cathedral.

Tips

Jeonju Hanok Village’s streets are free to enter and walk; individual sites inside (such as Gyeonggijeon) set their own admission, so check before going. The Suncheon set’s VisitKorea listing gives daily hours 9:00–18:00; admission is charged, so check the city’s official listing for the current fee and closed days — an older ₩3,000 figure in dated coverage is deliberately not quoted here. Both churches are working parish churches: visit quietly, outside Mass times, and do not photograph people at prayer; no Mass schedule was verified from an official source. Gyesan Cathedral’s grounds are listed as open without limit, while interior access follows services — check before going.

Sources

All sources for this guide

Accessed Sep 28, 2026 (Asia/Seoul) unless noted.

1. Kyunghyang Shinmun — Jeju plans a large outdoor set after missing the drama (Apr 1, 2025)

2. Seoul Shinmun — Jeju filming controversy (Apr 1, 2025)

3. Kyungbuk Maeil — Filmed at the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government new town

4. Gyeongbuk Province — Press release: filmed in Andong

5. Maeil Shinmun — Set removed (Apr 14, 2025)

6. Newscj — Jeonju City release (Apr 9, 2025)

7. Pressian — Jeonju streets (Apr 9, 2025)

8. SEN TV — Suncheon Drama Film Set (Apr 13, 2026)

9. Segye Ilbo — Filming apology at the barley festival (Apr 28, 2023)

10. Wikitree — Gochang festival release

11. Segye Ilbo — Wedding at Gasil Catholic Church (Apr 2, 2025)

12. Kyongbuk Ilbo — Gasil Catholic Church

13. Maeil Shinmun — Gyesan and Gasil churches (Mar 24, 2025)

14. Netflix — Production announcement

15. Korail — https://www.korail.com/global/eng

16. VisitKorea — A Healing Trip to Daegu Immersed in Hallyu Vibes (Nov 6, 2025) (Oct 28, 2026)

17. Korea JoongAng Daily — 5 iconic filming spots featured in Netflix series ‘When Life Gives You Tangerines’ (Apr 4, 2025, upd. Apr 8, 2025) (Oct 28, 2026)

18. VisitKorea — Gwangju Cinema (Oct 28, 2026)

19. Korea JoongAng Daily — Hakwon Farm canola-field scene and farm details

20. InvestKorea — Jeonju Hanok Village, Gyeonggijeon, Jeondong Cathedral

21. Busan Navi — Suncheon Drama Film Set (opened 2006, three era zones)

22. Korea JoongAng Daily — Chilgok churches, Saint Anne statue

23. Daegu tourism — Gyesan Catholic Church

24. Korea.net — Gyesan Cathedral, St. Andrew Kim Taegon relics

25. Korean Heritage — Gochang Dolmen Site (UNESCO 2000, 447 dolmens)

26. VisitKorea — Suncheon Drama Film Set hours

27. Seoul Off Script — Jeonju KTX fare range

28. Korea Visiting — Suncheon KTX fare range

29. Vocados — Seoul to Gochang bus fares

30. Klook — Daegu KTX fare range