Han Jae-hyun (Park Jin-young of GOT7) walks down the stairs of this building in episode 1 of When My Love Blooms/The Most Beautiful Moment in Life (화양연화 – 삶이 꽃이 되는 순간) (tvN, 2020) with Yoon Ji-soo (Jeon So-nee) on his heels, after they had run into each other at the video store by chance. In episode 5, Jae-hyun (Yoo Ji-tae) comes to the Nakwon Music Mall in the present day to buy a guitar for Ji-soo, which he had promised her he would do in their younger days.

Detective Han Pil-seung (Jo Jae-hyun) is on a stake out at this building in episode 1 of Snowman (Nun-sa-ram/눈사람) (MBC, 2003) and when having spotted the delinquent he is after, he runs after him traversing this site.

— Tune In For Love (유열의 음악앨범) (2019) – filmed at basement market noodle shop Yeolmu Noodles [금이네] (Source)
— Rosebud (그대 이름은 장미) (2019)

— ep. 166 of Omniscient Interfering View/The Manager (전지적 참견 시점) (MBC, 2021) feat. actress Park Ha-sun, who visited the noodle shop seen in Tune In For Love

CFs filmed here

— Feel the Rhythm of KOREA: SEOUL 2 (2021) feat. Gemini for ‘Imagine your Korea’ by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) – outside Nakwon Music Mall 

— [SEOUL X BTS] EoGiYeongCha Seoul – BTS (Official Video) (2021) for the Seoul Tourism Organization – outside Nakwon Music Mall

Nakwon Arcade [낙원상가] —also known as ‘Nagwon Arcade’, Nakwonsangga and Nakwon Music Mall — consists of two parts: Nakwon Music Mall [낙원악기상가], known for its many instrument shops; and Nakwon Market [낙원시장], an underground market with shops and food stalls; both located inside the Nakwon Building [낙원빌딩]. Built in 1969 according to a plaque on the building —others say 1970 — as South Korea’s first residential complex, it has become the country’s largest musical instrument mall. A specific feature of this building is that it is located not next to a road but stands on pilotis above a quite busy intersection on Samil-daero [삼일대로] and Donwanmunlo 11-gil.

This site was designated Seoul’s Future Heritage (서울미래유산) title by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2013; a designation given out since 2012 by the city’s government. A 2021 article on Kukinews by Kwak Kyung-geun (in Korean) takes readers on a nostalgia trip time traveling through important periods of this building.

It is located in Seoul’s neighborhood Nakwon [Nakwon-dong/낙원동] in the Jongno District [Jongno-gu/종로구]. Ilmi Sikdang [일미식당] (no.148) is located at the market.

Address
428 Samil-daero, Jongno-gu  Seoul, South Korea
서울특별시 종로구 삼일대로 428
(낙원동 288)
Geolocation (front of building): 37.571982, 126.987651
Geolocation (market side stairs — approx): 37.573294, 126.987608

Getting here
Jongno 3-ga Station [종로3가역], Seoul Subway Line 5, Exit 9
OR
Jongno 3-ga Station [종로3가역], Seoul Subway Line 1, Exit 1
(8 min. walk)

➜ Look out for the big blue ‘낙원악기상가’ sign on the building — the sign for ‘Nakwon Music Mall’
➜ Head to the alley on the left to access the underground market.
➜ Otherwise, cut through the building and head out to the back for the alternative route to the market, and the stairs seen in the respective shows.

— submitted by Mich KDL; last updated 26/05/22
— Snowman added by Marion KDL