7 Best Sights in Yeouido, Seoul

When the 63 Square building was constructed in the 1980s, it was the tallest building in Asia. While it no longer claims that accolade (it now belongs to Dubai's Burj Khalifa), the gold-tinted, 63-story skyscraper is Seoul's seventh tallest. The former observation deck on the 60th floor has been converted into the 63 Art Gallery, which claims to be the world’s highest art space. The modern, rotating installations are made all the more striking by the floor-to-ceiling windows with birds’ eye views of the skyline, the Han River, and N Seoul Tower as a backdrop. In addition to the gallery, there’s also a cafe on the 60th floor, while the 57th through 59th floors are home to high-end restaurants.

The most popular park in Yeouido, and indeed perhaps all of Seoul, is Yeouido Hangang Park. Running parallel to the Han River for the full length of the island, the park is dotted with picnic areas, stages, bike paths, and convenience stores for grabbing a Hite beer on a hot summer’s day. Other highlights include a public pool with prime city skyline views and whimsical paddleboats shaped like ducks, but it's the statue of letters spelling out “I SEOUL U”  with a background of the river, the skyline, and N Seoul Tower that draw daily flocks of eager Instagrammers.

The dome-topped National Assembly Building is the home to the legislative branch of the Republic of Korea’s government. Tours of the capitol, including the Plenary Chamber and Memorial Hall, are offered six days a week and must be scheduled three days in advance. For a last-minute visit, stick to the charming grounds filled with evocative statues depicting various moments in Korean history.

With an entrance resembling something from a spy movie, this unique underground museum is set in an abandoned 1970s military bunker that was rediscovered in 2005 during work on a new subway line. Reached via a glass-covered stairway emerging from the side of a multi-lane road (there’s also an elevator), the bunker is now a satellite gallery of the Seoul Museum of Art. The space features a permanent gallery relating to the bunker’s history and an exhibition hall showcasing a rotating array of contemporary art.

In addition to the government buildings and glitzy high-rises, Yeouido is home to South Korea’s largest megachurch, with over half a million members. Yeouido Full Gospel Church welcomes the faithful and the curious alike to visit, with smiling white-clad ushers directing traffic into the cavernous 12,000-seat sanctuary. While the congregation is mostly Korean, special sections are reserved for foreigners with headsets translating the sermon into English, Spanish, Indonesian, Mongolian, Chinese, and Japanese.

Yeouido Park bisects the island straight down the middle, creating a welcome pocket of tranquility amid the surrounding high-rises. All backdropped by the Yeouido skyline are walking trails, graceful pagodas, ponds, and cherry trees, as well as more unique features such as a rock acupressure trail, a bronze statue of the 15th-century King Sejong, and a display C-47 plane nodding back to Yeouido’s days as an airfield.

Running along the diminutive Saet River on the opposite side of the island from the larger Han River, this park is much less crowded than others on Yeouido and is an ideal spot for a peaceful jog or bike ride. The park also serves as a nature reserve for the area’s native wetland plants and offers year-round ecology programs. A popular walking route is across the futuristic Yeouido Saetgang Pedestrian Bridge, which spans the park and a major highway before depositing pedestrians in the Singil neighborhood across the Saet River.