The red door from "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" opens onto a map of Korea. Beyond it lie the gold bars from "Vincenzo," the royal kitchen uniform Im Yoon-ah wore in "Bon Appetit, Your Majesty," and a kiosk that turns a visitor's favorite drama moments into a trip to a Korean city outside Seoul.
The K-Drama Exhibition, themed "Scenes to Destinations," opened Sept. 18 and runs through Nov. 19 on the fourth floor of HiKR Ground in central Seoul. The Korea Tourism Organization and Studio Dragon, a South Korean drama production company under CJ ENM Entertainment Division, organized it to help K-drama fans experience the shows in a new way, then travel to where they were filmed.
The exhibition covers more than 40 Studio Dragon titles, including "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God," "Mr. Sunshine," "Hotel del Luna" and "Bon Appetit, Your Majesty." Famous lines, scenes, soundtracks, props and filming locations from the series are on display.
"The exhibition is organized around five elements: script, scene, sound, prop and location. Visitors go through them and get recommendations for tourist destinations that match their taste," said Lim Sung-hee, a producer at Urbanplay, the space planning firm behind the exhibition, who led a guided tour for the press.
The tour starts at a reception area modeled on the hotel in "Hotel del Luna." Each of the five zones that follow offers a collectible item printed with a barcode.
"At the end, visitors scan the barcodes of the items they collected, in order, at a kiosk, and it recommends a destination that matches their K-drama taste," Lim said.
The script zone presents 72 famous lines grouped under six keywords such as love, hope and courage, with QR codes that pull up clips of each line. Visitors pick up a postcard of their favorite line. A typewriter station invites them to write the line they would give a character if they were a K-drama writer. Original scripts from Studio Dragon's archive are also on display.
In the scene zone, clips are sorted under five landscape keywords, such as the city and the sea. Visitors tap a card and watch the scene through headphones, then take a postcard of the place they liked best.
The sound zone groups soundtrack playlists under six moods, such as traveling, walking and rainy days. The collectible here is a card shaped like a mini LP. A piano used in the currently airing drama "Four Hands, Two Sonatas" doubles as a photo spot.
The prop zone holds 29 items used on set, each with its behind-the-scenes story. Visitors collect stickers of the props they liked most.
The red door from "Guardian: The Lonely and Great God" leads into the location zone, where a map links filming sites across the country. Visitors choose from 12 travel moods, including romantic and healing, and take a door tag for the one that appeals to them.
After scanning their items, visitors receive a recommended city with related travel information. The organization is also running a K-drama filming location promotion with global online travel agencies, allowing visitors to book tour packages on-site based on their recommended routes.
Hirano, a visitor from Kobe, Japan, said the exhibition let him step into the dramas.
"I love K-dramas. The most recent one I saw was 'See You at Work Tomorrow!' The exhibition was well planned out, and I could immerse myself in the moments from K-dramas. I also loved that they recommend a travel destination at the end. Now I have to visit Suwon. That's what I was recommended based on my selections," he said.
Other features include a free Photoism booth with backdrops from five dramas and a Studio Dragon space showing teasers for upcoming series. Travelers holding a KKday voucher receive a souvenir and a free WowPass, a prepaid card that also works as a transportation card.
yoohong@heraldcorp.com
