World Cup Park

월드컵공원

A park made out of the Nanjido landfill, which took Seoul's rubbish for fifteen years from 1978. It opened in 2002 and is divided into five areas, two of which are hills built from the waste itself.

Language

World Cup Park seen from high ground: park roads and a coach park threading between trees in red and yellow autumn colour, the white roof of Seoul World Cup Stadium at the left of the frame, and the apartment blocks of Sangam with low hills and a hazy city skyline beyond.

Place information

Korean name: 월드컵공원
Address: 84 Haneulgongwon-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul (World Cup Park)
Nearest station: World Cup Stadium Station (월드컵경기장역, Line 6) (Exit 1)
Opening hours: open at all hours
Time needed: Half day
Admission: Free
Operated by: Seoul Western Parks and Leisure Office

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History

This was once Nanjido, an island beside the Hangang River with orchids and zhi grass that migratory birds visited. After the low-lying ground had been filled, the lack of another landfill site led to waste being piled up in two separate landfill areas. Following the landfill's closure, stabilisation work addressed leachate, capping soil, landfill gas and the slopes. A cut-off wall and collection wells around the landfill collect leachate for treatment, while captured landfill gas fuels boilers that supply heat to nearby apartment buildings and other places.

March 1978
Start of waste disposal
December 1985
Completion of low-ground filling
1986
Start of piled landfill operations
March 1993
Closure of the landfill
1996
Start of stabilisation work
1 May 2002
Opening of World Cup Park

Seoul's Parks — World Cup Park, 'Nanjido, the island of flowers': the landfill (1978–1993), its stabilisation, and the four parks · Sep 25, 2026

What to see

Peace Park

Peace Park is the principal area of World Cup Park. It contains an open square made to mark the 2002 World Cup, Nanji Pond, a peace garden and a picnic area.

Nearby

Rows of pale violet parasols on the stepped deck at the riverside water-play area, a bridge across the water behind

Nanji Hangang Park

Three kilometres of riverside at Sangam-dong, from Hongjecheon Bridge to Nanji Bridge. Footbridges drop into it — one between Noeul Park and Haneul Park, another from Peace Park — so it can be walked into from the World Cup Park side above. Its landmarks are the Nanji campsite, where barbecue and overnight camping are allowed, and the Mirror Fountain, which plays from May to October.

Mangwon Market

It opens at 10:00, later than Seoul's other well-known markets, which makes it a practical first stop after a slow start.

People at the riverside railing after sunset looking across the water, the red arches of Seongsan Bridge to the right

Mangwon Hangang Park

A 7.4 km stretch of the north bank between Wonhyo Bridge and Seongsan Bridge. Its flood plain is open lawn with long sightlines, and downstream of Seongsan Bridge sits Seoul Battleship Park, built around three decommissioned naval vessels. Mangwon is not on the operator's list of the river's twelve bicycle-hire points, so a bike has to be brought here or hired in another district.

Seonyudo Park

An island waterworks on the Han that was turned into a park without being torn down. Its concrete tanks and settling basins remain, now planted as beds and ponds, and unlike most city parks it keeps set hours and shuts at midnight.

Stories about this place

Eleven Seoul Parks, Compared: Seoul Forest, Namsan, the River Parks and Olympic Park
Eleven parks in Seoul compared on what each one is, how much walking it takes and how crowded it gets. Nine of the eleven keep no opening hours and charge nothing, so the choice comes down to what you want from the day.

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