Korea’s Top 3 Most Absolutely Scariest Places

1) “Demilitarized Zone” (aka DMZ) 

Did you know that South Korea and North Korea is still technically at war? Well, if you didn’t pay attention in your world history class, your professor probably said something along the line about the North and South being the only place in the world that is still affected by the Cold War. The armistice signed in 1953 during the Korean war only created a ceasefire which did not end the war. No official peace treaty was signed between the two countries making it a war lasting for about 57 years (and still counting). Upon entering the boarder of the Koreas, you should keep in mind that you are literally entering a war zone. But don’t worry, we’re not trying to scare you by saying that a war will break out! It’s more of the atmosphere of the place that gives you the chills. Sort of a spooky thought, eh?

The North and South is separated by a border called the Demilitarized Zone, or the ‘DMZ’ for short. The DMZ has been arguably one of the most spookiest places on earth and if you ever get the chance to visit the zone, you can take a small glimpse into the world’s least understood country – North Korea. Even US presidents such as Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Obama labeled the DMZ to be the scariest place on Earth. The DMZ is about 2.5 kilometers wide between the north and south; filled with land mines, barbed wires, and guard posts watching your every step. Soldiers from both the South and North eye each other every second to see if any suspicious acts are occurring, and hopefully, no miscalculations are made between the two rivals.

Although this is the most heavily militarized zone in the world, it is also the one of the biggest tourist hot spots for people visiting Korea. This is a must place visit if you are in Korea where it is a one time experience where you can accustom yourself with the only country in the world that is still divided. If you’re still not scared enough by reading this…! Go take a tour at the DMZ for a very reasonable price. Taking the tour, you will learn about the history of the DMZ and many incidents that occurred since Korea’s split in 1953. You can discover the secret tunnels that the North Koreans built so that their soldiers can have access to South Korea’s land in case a war was to break out. You can also check out the Joint Security Area (JSA – shown in the picture above). The Joint Security Area is the only part of the DMZ where the North Korean soldiers and South Korean soldiers face each other to see who can stare at each other the longest. And you will definitely lose if you play the staring game with these soldiers.

But can you handle it? Is the thought of a war still freaking you out? We dare you to check out the place! But don’t worry, we are sure that there will be no war between the two sides 

Special Note: Environmentalist rejoice! As the DMZ is one of the most heavily guarded area in the world, this is one of the few places in the world where there is virtually no human intervention. It’s pretty much nature at its purest. As a result, the biodiversity in the DMZ area is one of the most untouched places in the world! Too bad you’re not allowed to see any of it! (Unless you have power binoculars )

2.) “Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital” in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

If you’re the type of person that is always looking for weird things to do in Korea, well we did all the searching for you. If you ever get to stop by a tiny city called Gwangju in Gyeonggi-do, Korea, stop by the Gonjiam Mental Hospital just for the heck of it. This hospital was shut down nearly 15 years ago and there was no real conclusion on why this place shut down. This is the freaky part: people were just randomly dying in this hospital. Well, you’re thinking that there should’ve been at least some kind investigation, right? Not really. There was no mention of why people started dying so mysteriously at this mental institute.

The atmosphere of this abandoned hospital has an exterior thats all torn up, ash gray colored pipes, and shattered windows that no one has ever bothered to pick up. You most definitely want to check this place out during the day when the sun is at it’s peak because it’s probably intense enough to look around this place even when the sun is up. We can’t even imagine what it would be like at night. Inside the building you’ll find long hallways with aspiring black shaded corridors that make the interior even more scarier. You’ll also find thousands of shattered pieces of glass that still remain to this day probably left by psychiatric patients 15 years ago. Who knows what was going on in their minds at the time. From room to room, they all hold their own unique and distinct traits of some sort; some rooms you will find old cartoon books, examination tables, and scribblings on the walls that seem to have absolutely no definition of any sort. You can also see offices with jackets and white-coats still hanging on the wall — it feels just as if the doctor left the office yesterday. You’ll find scribblings on whiteboards and little sticky notes with personal messages saying that the hospital should be abandoned and evacuated as soon as possible. Again, no reason why. But we know one thing is for sure, the person who wrote the personal sticky note saying the place should be evacuated was a lucky one to get out alive. Or did he? Why don’t you go to the hospital and ask him in person! 

3.) “Neulbom Garden” (늘봄가든)

Neulbom Garden used to be a local hit restaurant, until things got very strange with the owners and employees. They say this place is so haunted that you can still hear the dishes being done in the kitchen at night.

Brief history of the restaurant: There was a family of three, one daughter and a couple that lived together. One day, the daughter got into a collision on a nearby road causing her neck to be snapped and leaving her in a vegetative state. The couples had no choice but to suffer the pain of having a daughter that couldn’t speak or think for the rest of her life. Because of this incident, the husband decided to commit suicide by hanging himself. Scary enough?!

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Well, this has been in the talks for about 20 years.

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Within that time span of 20 years, this restaurant has been bought by an unknown rich couple. The stories are not so specific in terms of events because there were not many witnesses that survived. But there were rumors of doors suddenly opening and shutting and customers would order food where all of the orders were getting messed up (well… sorta spooky!). The boss could not handle such situations and left the employees to do all the work because he was busy doing the dishes in the back kitchen (dude was one of those psychos that couldn’t stand dirty dishes!). Oh yea, and the boss was also known to club customers in the head if he saw them playing with their food or dropped scraps of food on his floor (can anyone say psycho?!). No one knows if this crazy boss is part of the party de haunt, but what we know is that it definitely is haunted! The building has been left to rot since it’s abandonment, and the exterior has that very abandoned (aka scary) look of red bricks deteriorating on the outer wall. It’s so haunted that people dare not enter because if they do, they might get a mistaken order for “AHHHHHHHH!!!!”