Remote, out-of-use and opposite of the modern Seodo Station you can visit this small wooden building that was used as a filming site for the Korean Drama Mr. Sunshine.
You can get there by train, completely in the spirit of this visit, or park your car right in front of the entrance (three parking spots, and parking in the neighborhood shouldn’t be a problem either). This stop is only a twenty minutes’ drive from Namwon in South Korea.
History of Seodo Station
The original Seodo Station was built in 1932 and was used until the current Seodo Station was built in 2002. It is featured in Honbul (The Ghost Fire), a famous novel by Choi Myunghee about three generations of women from Namwon’s Lee clan under Japanese colonial rule in the 1930s. This is the station where Mrs. Hyowon got off to meet the bridegroom and where Mr. Gangmo used to take the train to go to a school in Jeonju.
Explore Seodo Station
The wooden building once used as a train station is the first thing you see. But head left first to see the tin art of people waiting for the train, surrounded by green bushes and hopefully with a blue sky above.
Then you get to the old train track, going in a circle. Follow the track to the open tunnel for some photos. If the weather is nice, you’ll stumble upon locals relaxing in the grass. The area is surrounded by fields with rice plants that are especially beautiful when they’re yellow. In the olden days, the train used to zig-zag between these rice fields like an unfolded traditional Korean skirt.
Follow the path until you are back at the train station and relax on the wooden benches in front (instantly upping 28 degrees Celsius weather to 38 degrees if the sun is shining), while looking at the old train switched amidst the pink flowers you find everywhere in South Korea.
As always, South Korea doesn’t disappoint: even this small site has a toilet building that has just as much historical value as the train station itself.
Seodo Station is a really small stop along the way and one not many people know about, but that only makes it a more interesting place to visit. Go see it for yourself and spread the word.
Read more about the area
Find out about Jinan, Jirisan and Namwon in my Lesser-known south and west of South Korea itinerary
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