🎧 Yul's Korea Audio Guide
Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)
Narrated in English with Korean phrases by YUL of KVIBE IDOLS.
🎵 Background music: Still in That Spring (그 봄에 머물러) — KVIBE IDOLS · Listen to the full song →
Full transcript
Annyeong, yeoreobun! Yul here. Look at this building. No straight lines, no sharp corners, just smooth silver curves. Is it a spaceship? A giant whale? Welcome to Dongdaemun Design Plaza, or DDP for short!
It was designed by Zaha Hadid, the famous Iraqi-British architect often called the queen of the curve, and it opened in March 2014. The outside is covered with 45,133 aluminum panels, and the builders say each one is unique.
But the real story is under your feet. For more than eighty years, this spot was Dongdaemun Stadium. It was built in 1925, during the Japanese colonial period, and generations of Koreans cheered for baseball and football games here. In 2007, the old stadium was torn down to make room for something new.
And then, plot twist! When the workers started digging, the ground began to talk. They found a section of Seoul's old city wall from the Joseon dynasty, and a stone water gate with two arches, called Igansumun. It let water flow out of the city. Around a thousand relics came out of the earth. Today, the wall and the water gate are preserved in the history park right next to the building. Old and new, side by side. Daebak!
Yul's tip! Walk around the building, then find the fortress wall and the water gate in Dongdaemun History and Culture Park. Come back after dark, when DDP glows.
Next, let's head north to the border, where an old bridge carries a heavy story. Kaja!
