The Dark Side of Seoul Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Is there a Korean afterlife? What are Korean funeral traditions? We also cover why some elevators do not have a fourth floor. Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Listener Mail! Send us a message (Instagram, Facebook, email) and we might read it on air. Music by Soraks...

Send us Fan Mail WARNING: This episode contains disturbing content. A special serious episode. South Korea has been horrified by the story of 16-month-old Jeong-in, a baby girl who was abused until she died this past October. This is spotlighting Korea’s and the Korean authorities’ long dark complacency with child abuse.  #SorryJeongin #정인아미안해 Support the show Join our Patreon to get more st...

Send us Fan Mail Poop sculptures, the Berlin Wall, Incheon Airport’s phallic sculpture, a secret WWII Japanese air raid bunker, and more. We top it off with the dark violent story behind Ahyeon-dong’s Wedding Street. Photos are here: https://darksideofseoul.com/ 8-weird-and-surprising-seoul-landmarks / Map is here: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1NfG556hk-kH_gT8ckKsL3vDZsIf5a3Y3&usp=sharin...

Send us Fan Mail How dark was 2020 for Korea? From being the second country to get the ‘Rona to the evils of sex criminals to ghost sightings on our tour, we recap news you may have forgotten.  Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Listener Mail! Send us a message (Instagram, Facebook,...

Send us Fan Mail King Sejo’s bloody paranoid reign continues. Shortly after he usurps the throne, scholars and some military conspire to assassinate him. The plot is foiled, and a lot of people pay the price. This leads to the famous story of the Six Martyrs. In the Dark Side of Seoul style, we bust the myths surrounding them. Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul...

Send us Fan Mail In 1452 there was an 11-year-old king on the throne. Too bad he had mad uncles, crooked advisors, and power hungry scholars surrounding him. Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Jamie Staley Shaaron Cullen Dev...

Send us Fan Mail Something to lose your hand over. True crime and historical accounts of cutting off limbs. Lots of them.  Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Jamie Staley Shaaron Cullen Support the show Join our Patreon to g...

Send us Fan Mail Self immolation! City fires! Fire in folklore! The most pyro episode we’ve made yet.  Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Jamie Staley Shaaron Cullen Support the show Join our Patreon to get more stuff https:...

Send us Fan Mail At the start of the Korean War, a bridge blew up, killing citizens fleeing Seoul and stranding a good section of the South Korean Army on the wrong side. Here are the tragedies of errors behind that. Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Our comic book is also here. htt...

Send us Fan Mail Feeling under the weather? Maybe try some of these Korean folk remedies. Not our darkest episode, but the origins of folk remedies come from the same dark places. Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Our comic book is also here. https://darksideofseoul.com/store Music...

Send us Fan Mail Starting in 1866, Catholics were systematically rounded up and executed on a hill near what is now Hapjeong Station. These actions started a chain of events that led to what we’re having to deal with today in modern Korea. Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Music by...

Send us Fan Mail Mountains dominate Korean culture. Shawn shares tales hidden in the fog cloaked peaks. Remember these as you hike through Korea’s intoxicating fall foliage Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Music by Soraksan Top tier Patrons Angel Earl Joel Bonomini Jamie Staley Sha...

Send us Fan Mail How many Korean monsters do you know? Which ones enjoy riding humans? Which monster resides in a North Korean lake and had a movie made about it? Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Cheonji Lake Monsters?  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFElPwUVUHs MBC Jangsan-beom r...

Send us Fan Mail In modern times, tragedy has surrounded modern Christian-based exorcisms. Where traditional shaman exorcisms relied on ritual, fringe Christian exorcisms have relied on violence. Sometimes this results in death. Listen to hear of some dark true crime cases of modern Korean exorcisms. Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Sid...

Send us Fan Mail The power of Han compels you! Shawn, Joe (and Captain Howdy?) talk about Korean exorcisms and possession.  Many Korean rites that involve communicating or honouring spirits are translated as exorcisms, but this is incorrect. Exorcisms, by definition, are the expulsion of evil spirits or demons.  A Buddhist exorcism: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w0jgFXil9E n alleged exorcist: h...

Send us Fan Mail Korea has a history with fare for fava beans for centuries. Most of the time it was for medicinal purposes. Even though it’s a pariah in society, some of the philosophy behind it reverberates today. Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Music by Soraksan Top tier Patron...

Send us Fan Mail Korea’s most notorious criminal is set to be released in late 2020. Only recently has the “I was drunk” defense been scrapped as an accepted excuse for sex crimes. We explore the problematic legal and cultural barriers to effective sex crime prevention in Korea.  **WARNING** We do not suggest the episode for people recovering from sexual abuse. Join our Patreon to get more stuff h...

Send us Fan Mail Korea is one giant graveyard. Serious. There are graves everywhere, and they are well maintained. For our Chuseok season episode, we explore one of the central symbols of that season, the ancestral grave.  Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Music by Soraksan Top tier...

Send us Fan Mail Guests - Allie and Hannah (What’s Han Your Mind) https://whatshanyourmind.com Allie and Hannah regale us with tales of commoner and aristocratic women. Who was influential? Who had great tragedy? (SPOILER: a lot)  Join our Patreon to get more stuff https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com Music by Soraksan...

Send us Fan Mail Seoul is full of haunted locations, but they’re hard to find. Joe and Shawn reveal 11 haunted places in Seoul. Some of them are on the Dark Side tour. Each place weaves a thread in the tapestry that is Seoul’s character. Here’s the list. Sejong Intersection Gwanghwamun Bigak Back Alley Seorin Hotel East Alley Taehwagan Gomok Anguk-dong Alleys Road behind Tapgol Park Jongno 3-ga Ba...

Send us Fan Mail Prince Sado’s tale has been told through TV and film. Living in the 1700s, he got away with many killings and cruel acts. Yet there are others who say he himself was a victim. Listen as we delve into the life and legends of one of Korea’s most notorious royal members and how his death marked the beginning of the end of the Joseon dynasty. Join our Patreon to get more stuff https:/...

Send us Fan Mail A couple of months ago, some strange things started happening in Joe’s apartment in the middle of the night. Even one of our patrons saw something unexplained in a live video chat.  One incident forgotten to add to the show is that when Joe was in bed one night, the electric fan shut off. Joe checked to see if it was plugged in, and it was. The fuses weren’t busted. Then suddenly...

Send us Fan Mail In July 2011, a landslide was triggered by heavy rains on a mountain on the southern side of Seoul. It crashed through apartment buildings and resulted in deaths and destruction. Your host, Joe, was caught in that. Here’s his story. Video of the Umyeonsan Landslides https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNkBC1a28o0 My video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENHPJ2Ctcgg https://www.youtube...

Send us Fan Mail The Dark Side of Seoul Comic: Published! Announcing the long awaited 50-page anthology comic The Dark Side of Seoul: Weird Tales from Korean Lore .  Get the print or digital version: https://darksideofseoul.com/store This is the first English language comic that embraces Korea’s spooky dark folklore. Three chilling traditional tales come to life in these pages.  Shawn and Joe talk...

Send us Fan Mail In early 2008, an English teacher and his girlfriend were killed in an apartment fire. It was a turning point in the disparate expat community. Many of the charity and fundraising groups we see now started here. But is that the whole story? We talk about Bill Kapoun and more mysterious passings in this episode. Here is the link to the Embassy Duty Log . Join our Patreon to get mor...