🎧 Yul's Korea Audio Guide
Namsan & N Seoul Tower
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! It's Yul again. Look up. Way up. See that tower on top of the mountain? That's N Seoul Tower, on Namsan, which literally means South Mountain. Let me tell you why this mountain is more than just a nice view.
Back in the Joseon dynasty, there was no phone, no internet, no group chat. So how did the king know if enemies were coming? Fire! On top of Namsan, there were five beacon towers called bongsudae. Signals traveled from mountain to mountain, all the way from the borders, and ended right here. One fire meant everything is peaceful. More fires meant... trouble. Basically, Namsan was the king's notification center.
And around the mountain runs the old Seoul city wall, Hanyangdoseong, built to protect the capital more than six hundred years ago. You can still walk along parts of it today.
Fast forward to 1969. Korea starts building a tower here to send TV and radio signals across the city. Same mountain, same job, sending signals, just with electricity instead of fire! In 1980, it opened to the public, and now it's one of the most famous views in Asia.
At the top, you're about 480 meters above sea level, and on a clear night, Seoul looks like a sea of stars. Oh, and those thousands of colorful padlocks on the fences? Those are love locks. Couples write their names, lock them, and promise to stay together forever. Very romantic. Very K-drama.
Yul's tip! Take the Namsan cable car or the yellow bus up, and go just before sunset. You get the day view and the night view in one trip. Two for one! Daebak.
Next, let's go down to the river where ancient kingdoms fought, and where a bridge now makes rainbows. Kaja!
