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The King: Eternal Monarch Filming Locations — Five in Busan, One in Suwon

The five Busan locations Visit Busan names for The King: Eternal Monarch, plus the one Suwon adds, set out by scene, by what is there now, and by where they sit. Even inside Busan, Gijang and Saha are opposite ends of the city.

Updated Sep 7, 20262 min read

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Dadaepo Beach at sunset, the low sun laying an orange path across the wet sand and the incoming water

The King: Eternal Monarch concentrated its filming in Busan, and then spread it right across Busan. The five locations Visit Busan names run from Gijang in the north-east to Saha in the south-west, and Suwon adds a library on top of that.

So the use of this list is deciding what to give up. There is no trip that takes in all six. What you actually have to choose is which two to pair and which single one to make the journey for.

The seafront walk of Haeundae Cinema Street, a white sculpted wall pierced by arches running along the stone paving with black figure sculptures of a film crew and their camera in front of it, the sea and a wooded headland beyond
Haeundae Cinema Street
부산광역시 (공공누리, KOGL Type 1)
The Forty Steps with the memorial stone at their foot, shopfronts pressing in on both sides.
Forty Stairs, in the old centre
Mobius6 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0)

Inside Busan they fall into three groups

Two in Haeundae — Gunam-ro and Cinema Street are within walking distance of each other. If you are staying in Haeundae they cost no extra time at all.

One in the old centre — Forty Stairs is in Jung-gu, between Busan Station and Nampo-dong. It attaches naturally to a day walking the old city.

Two at opposite edges — Ahopsan Forest is out north-east in Gijang; Dadaepo Beach is south-west in Saha. They are the furthest pair on the list, so do not plan them on the same day. Choosing one is the realistic move.

Suwon is not part of a Busan trip

Suwon Hallim Library comes from Suwon City's own drama-location course and is absent from Visit Busan's list. It is more than 300 km from the Busan locations, so do not bundle it with them. It is also a working public library, which means looking without disturbing the people using it.

If you only pick one, pick Ahopsan Forest

It is the location Busan Tourism names as the drama's most frequently featured, and as a four-hundred-year-old bamboo grove it is the one of the six that most still looks like what you saw. It is privately owned woodland, though, so check the visiting rules and whether it is open before you go — and allow half a day for Gijang and back.

In this list

  1. A dirt path running between the bamboo of Ahopsan Forest, sunlight falling through the stems.
    Busan

    Ahopsan Forest

    The bamboo grove where Lee Gon finds the gate to a parallel Korea. Busan Tourism names it as the location the drama returns to most often, and because the grove is four centuries old it has held its screen character almost exactly. It is also the furthest from the city centre, out in Gijang at the north-eastern edge.

    The scene
    The door between worlds
    What is there now
    A four-century-old bamboo grove and its paths
    Where it is
    Gijang — the north-eastern edge of Busan
    Add it when
    The drama is why you came to Busan

    See details

  2. Gunam-ro Culture Square in Haeundae at twilight, a crowd waiting at the crossing beneath two white sail-shaped canopies, lit shopfront signs and high-rise blocks lining both sides and a dark ridge of hills closing the far end of the street
    Busan

    Haeundae Gunam-ro

    The confrontation between Lee Gon and his rival Lee Lim was filmed on this street. It is the main road running down to Haeundae Beach, so there is nothing to make a trip for — if you are staying in Haeundae you are already walking through the location. It reads closest to the screen after dark.

    The scene
    Lee Gon and Lee Lim facing each other
    What is there now
    The busy road down to the beach
    Where it is
    Haeundae — right at the beachfront
    Add it when
    You are staying in Haeundae anyway

    See details

  3. The seafront walk of Haeundae Cinema Street, a white sculpted wall pierced by arches running along the stone paving with black figure sculptures of a film crew and their camera in front of it, the sea and a wooded headland beyond
    Busan

    Haeundae Cinema Street

    Lee Gon chasing the rabbit in the first episode, and Jeong Tae-eul walking the street alone, were both shot here. It is within walking distance of Gunam-ro, so in practice the two are one stop. The seafront promenade carries film installations, and Gwangan Bridge stays in view the whole way along.

    The scene
    The episode-one chase, and Tae-eul walking alone
    What is there now
    A seafront promenade with film installations
    Where it is
    Haeundae — walking distance from Gunam-ro
    Add it when
    You have already come to Gunam-ro

    See details

  4. The Forty Steps with the memorial stone at their foot, shopfronts pressing in on both sides.
    Busan

    Forty Stairs Street

    The café where royal guard captain Jo Yeong meets communications officer Myeong Seung-ah stands on this street. The source names the street rather than the shop, so come for the stairs themselves instead of hunting for the café. They are also a Korean War refugee site, which gives them a weight that has nothing to do with the drama.

    The scene
    The street the café scene sits on
    What is there now
    Refugee-era stairs and their monument
    Where it is
    Jung-gu — between Busan Station and Nampo-dong
    Add it when
    You are walking the old city centre

    See details

  5. Sunset over the sand and incoming waves at Dadaepo Beach
    Busan

    Dadaepo Beach

    The beach where Lee Gon rides the white horse. It is the best-known frame of the six and also the one at the far south-western corner — the opposite end of the city from Haeundae. The beach is known for its sunsets, so if you are making the trip, time it for the end of the day.

    The scene
    Lee Gon riding the white horse
    What is there now
    A wide sand beach known for its sunsets
    Where it is
    Saha — the south-western edge of Busan
    Add it when
    You can time it for sunset

    not published by the operatorSunset Fountain of Dreams Every MonFree

    See details

  6. Nationwide

    Suwon Hallim Library

    The library Suwon City names as a location for this drama. It does not appear on Visit Busan's list at all — only on Suwon's own drama-location course. It is more than 300 km from the Busan five, so it belongs to a different trip entirely and is only worth planning around if you are going to Suwon anyway.

    The scene
    The library Suwon names as a location
    What is there now
    A working municipal library
    Where it is
    Suwon — over 300 km from Busan
    Add it when
    You had separate reason to be in Suwon

    See details

Frequently asked questions

Can I do the five Busan locations in one day?

Not comfortably. They are all inside Busan, but Ahopsan Forest in Gijang and Dadaepo Beach in Saha sit at opposite ends of the city and the journey between just those two eats the day. The two Haeundae locations connect on foot and Forty Stairs is on the metro, so the realistic plan is Haeundae plus the old centre, and then one of Ahopsan or Dadaepo, not both.

Which one should I go to first?

If the drama is why you came to Busan, Ahopsan Forest. Busan Tourism names it as the location the series uses most often, and being a bamboo grove it has changed least. If you are instead fitting locations around an ordinary Busan trip, the two Haeundae streets cost you no extra travel at all and are the efficient choice.

Why is a library in Suwon on this list?

Because Suwon City names it as a location for this drama on its own drama-location course. Visit Busan does not list it. The source is different and so is the geography — over 300 km — so do not think of it as part of the same trip as the Busan five.

Does it matter when I go to Dadaepo?

You can go at any time, but this particular frame depends on the light. What makes the white-horse scene is the wide sand and the low sun, and Dadaepo is known for its sunsets in the first place. Given how long it takes to reach the south-western corner of the city, time it for the end of the day if you go at all.

Are there any sets or markers?

None. All six are places in ordinary use and nothing was built for the production. Ahopsan Forest is privately owned woodland with its own visiting rules, and Suwon Hallim Library is a working public library, so look without getting in the way of the people using it.

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