South Korea K-Pop: 15 K-Pop Activities & Things To Do

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Say hello to ‘Hallyu’ & K-Pop! Korean popular music has gone global, with K-Pop groups now worldwide stars – from BTS to Blackpink, Seventeen to Stray Kids, there are dozens of K-Pop groups from South Korea to enjoy.

Better still, if you are visiting South Korea soon, there are lots of K-Pop activities to do, from K-Pop tours to various K-Pop music stores in Myeongdong. You can even eat in Yoojung Sikdang, the BTS cafe in Gangnam where the BTS boys used to dine before they made it big.

We’ve even been to K-Pop concerts and it is surprisingly easy to get tickets – from K-Pop selfie spots to Psy’s Seoul sculpture, here is our ultimate guide to South Korea’s K-Pop activities, shops, tours and things to do.

You might like – 40 best things to do and places to visit in South Korea >

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Table of Contents

The best K-Pop activities and experiences in South Korea

1. K-Pop shops in Myeongdong

If you are visiting Seoul soon and want to buy K-Pop music or merchandise, the highest concentration of Seoul K Pop stores is in Myeongdong.

And the Seoul K-Pop stores in South Korea don’t just sell K-Pop music or books – you’ll find all manner of K-Pop merchandise from K-Pop Lego through to cute BT21 merch.

Some of the most famous K-Pop shops in Seoul include Buruttrak, Music Korea and Lotte Young Plaza K-Pop Zone. The underground malls are also packed full of K-Pop merchandise.

From Seoul K-Pop stores in malls to market stalls and shops, here is our guide to the 10 best K-Pop stores in Myeongdong >

You might like our things to do in Myeongdong guide including our guide to HBAF stores and flavors.

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Try this – The 10 best Seoul K-Pop tours >

2. K-Pop concerts

There are dozens of K-Pop groups and K-Pop concerts to enjoy whilst in South Korea, from epic annual festivals like Psy’s Summer Swag (mainly for local university students) to more under-the-radar locally loved bands.

The great news is that you might be able to catch a K-Pop concert – this is easily one of our favourite ever K-Pop experiences in South Korea. There are regular big K-Pop concerts and festivals (usually with several groups at a time) held regularly in Seoul and Busan.

We were lucky enough to go to the most recent BOF K-POP concert in Busan held at the Busan Asiad Stadium featuring bands like ZeroBaseOne, NCT127 and Oh My Girl. OMG, it was amazing and one of the best things in Busan we ever did!

Tickets weren’t that expensive either, especially considering the Busan K-Pop concert was over three hours long and had 10 K-Pop bands / performers plus a day tour of Busan.

Book your K-Pop concert tickets with Trazy >

You might like – 90 best things to do in Seoul, South Korea >

3. BTS Cafe – Yoojung Sikdang

The beloved BTS cafe in Gangnam where the K-Pop band used to dine before they were superstars, Yoojung Sikdang has now become the ultimate K-Pop pilgrimage in Seoul (and tasty too).

Yoojung Sikdang is a cosy cafe located in Gangnam’s side streets which is literally covered in posters and BTS merchandise – like there isn’t a single surface spared.

We visited Yoojung Sikdang one weekday lunch-time, and even managed to sit in BTS’s favourite table!

Busy with locals and international tourists of all ages, the food here was good and still very reasonably priced (the bibimbap was particularly good).

The BTS boys have been back here several times since to film videos or segments – so who knows when BTS might pop up?

You might like – 80+ things to do in Busan, South Korea >

4. Seoul K-Pop tour

A full day of Hally-U themed activities in Seoul, this is the ultimate K-Pop tour for any super-fan.

The K Pop Seoul tour departs from Myeongdong or Hongik early in the morning, before whisking you away to visit ‘KBS’ (a Korean TV station) and KBS Open Radio Studio with a guide.

Afterwards, take some selfies in a K-pop themed playground followed by the K-pop Music Video Zone with 5 different themes including a K-pop Stage, Color Room and Subway themed room.

You also get to visit KPOPTown 4u to stock up K-pop Idol goods, plus the Statue of Gangnam Style (more on this later) and Kwangya where the famous SM Entertainment office is located.

Book your Seoul K-Pop Hallyu tour her >

You might like – Our guide to Seoul’s best shopping malls and shopping districts >

5. K-Pop Museum in Gyeongju

Gangnam style…sorry… Gyeongju style. Learn from our mistake – we wanted to visit the K Pop Museum in Gyeongju badly but we rocked up and didn’t realise it was closed on a Monday (and on Tuesdays too), so we went next door to the Wasoo Brewery instead (which was also fun).

Billed as Korea’s first dedicated K Pop Museum, the collection have over 70,000 items plus has a huge outdoor stage for special events.

The permanent exhibition looks back at over 100 years of K-Pop across four floors (note that the emphasis is on the early days of Korean Pop, so isn’t really about modern K-Pop – so maybe go if you are already in Gyeongju but probably don’t make a special K-Pop pilgrimage there).

You might like our 20 things to do in Gyeongju guide >

Try this – Pohang K-Drama tour from Seoul (‘Hometown Cha Cha Cha’ & ‘When the Camellia Blooms’) filming spots tour >

6. K Star Road (AKA GangnamDol bears)

One of the most famous K-Pop activities in Soul is a visit to the brightly coloured K-pop bears of K Star Road (which are free to visit 24 hours a day).

These ‘GangnamDols’ (brightly coloured bear dolls) line a 1 km stretch of road with around 20 big bears representing the cream of K-pop talent and famous K-pop dolls.

As you’d expect, the ‘star’ of K Star Road is a huge Psy bear / GangnamDol (near Apgujeong Rodeo Station exit 2), but other bears include Girl’s Generation, Miss A and 4Minute – and yes, the BTS Gangnam-su bear is incredibly popular.

You might like our things to do in Gangnam guide >

Try this – K-Pop dance class in Gangnam (incl. video shooting & editing) >

7. Hongdae Street K-Pop performers

The K-Pop stars of tomorrow all have to start somewhere and Hongdae is a breeding ground for up and coming street performers and K-Pop talent.

On all of our daytime visits to Hongdae (particularly at the weekends in summer), we’ve seen dozens of street performers from K-Pop boy bands to accordionists, street-rappers to beatboxers.

Wannabe K-Pop girl groups in Hongdae seem particularly popular especially with young and old men who bring out their large cameras and telescopic lenses – eek!

Huge crowds gather to watch impromptu performances or join in singalong sessions; we’ve even seen fans bring along K-pop light sticks to support their favourite street performers.

The best places to catch street performers are along Festival Street or Hongdae Street.

Combine this with making your very own K-Pop dance class in Hongdae >

You might like our things to do in Hongdae guide >

You might like these Seoul neighbourhood guides:
Hongdae
Myeongdong
Insadong
Ikseon-dong
Gangnam
Seongsu-dong
Euljiro
Itaewon
Dongdaemun

Or check out our best neighbourhoods in Seoul Guide >

8. BTS V Photo Spot in Citizen’s Park

If you didn’t already know that Busan was ‘dynamite’, you might want to visit a famous BTS photo-spot in Citizen’s Park near Seomyeon, which many BTS fans in Busan make a regular pilgrimage to.

V from BTS once posted on social media a picture of himself under an umbrella in the rain in the park and so many fans have since visited, a small sign painted onto the path now marks the very spot where V stood.

부산 좋네에~~ pic.twitter.com/2nfB6OeVbW
— 방탄소년단 (@BTS_twt) June 15, 2019

A true K-Pop tale – we hadn’t even heard of the BTS Busan Citizens Park photo spot before but whilst we were wandering around the park, a kindly old volunteer warden approached us and asked if we’d like a photo taken in the BTS spot. He was such a lovely man and was a brilliant ambassador for Busan and Seomyeon / Jeonpo.

Check out this IN THE SOOP BTS Ver. (PyeongChang) filming location tour >

You might like – Our guide to Busan at night >

9. Statue of Gangnam Style

K-Pop along to the COEX Mall in Seoul to see the surreal statue of ‘Gangnam Style’, a weird and wonderful Seoul attraction that is a bronze style sculpture located just outside the East Gate of COEX Mall and COEX exhibition centre.

And yes, we and several other bystanders during our visit felt it only appropriate to recreate Psy’s iconic dance in front of the giant pair of hands.

Statue of Gangnam Style Seoul South Korea

Unveiled in 2015, the Statue of Gangnam style is the ultimate tribute to Psy and his global ‘Gangnam Style’ hit (part of Psy’s Gangnam Style video was filmed in Gangnam). The song also plays from a speaker next to the statue.

Check out this discover the Korean Wave in Gangnam private tour >

You might like – Our guide to more unusual, weird and wonderful things to do in Seoul >

10. Visit HiKr Ground K-pop Experience

One of the best free K-Pop activities in Seoul, HiKR Ground’ is found on the upper floor of the Korea Tourism Organization Seoul Center overlooking the Cheonggyecheon Stream near Euljiro and Myeongdong.

The space has various K-Pop exhibitions and video screens showing famous videos as well as a mini “K-Pop museum” on the second floor (nothing on the scale of the one in Gyeongju).

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A post shared by 하이커 그라운드(HiKR Ground) (@hikrground_official)

Better still, you can recreate your own K-Pop video in themed sets like the coin laundry from ‘Permission to Dance’ from BTS (don’t worry, you don’t need any coins)!

The K-Pop section at HiKr Ground is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 7pm.

You might like – 30 things to do in Seoul at night >

11. K-Pop pop-up shops in Seongsu-dong

We’ve talked about all the permanent Seoul K-Pop shops in Myeongdong already but for the best array of K-Pop pop-up shops (try saying that after several sojus), head to Seongsu-dong, Seoul’s trendiest neighborhood.

Seriously, based on our visits in 2023 and 2024, Seongsu-Dong / Seongdong-gu has to be the place for pop-up shops and one-off stores in Seoul.

seventeenth heaven - seventeen K-Pop pop-up shop in Seongsu-dong Seoul South Korea

Almost every street corner or high street had some form of warehouse or industrial unit transformed into a temporary fashion store or bar. On a recent visit, one of the warehouses had been turned into a ‘Seventeen’ album launch event for a weekend and eager fans queued around the block.

You might like our things to do in Seongsu-dong guide >

You might like – things to do in Seoul with kids guide >

12. K-Pop chocolate in Myeongdong

The most incredible K-Pop store in Seoul, let alone Myeongdong, the Starfox Artist Chocolate Sunshine store in Myeongdong has three floors of cool K-Pop merchandise, including a K-Pop chocolate shop and BTS section on the ground floor.

Here at the Starfox Artist Chocolate store, there are 28 different K-Pop groups that you can get an exclusive chocolate set of. Each chocolate box has 6 exclusive chocolates with band images printed / etched on each one.

They almost look too good to eat! From awesome Aespa chocolate to succulent Seventeen cocoa goodness and nice NCT 127 nibbles, this is the most unique K-Pop souvenir in Seoul.

We also noticed lots of other interesting K-Pop merchandise in Seoul’s Sunshine Myeongdong branch including lots of BTS Tiny Tan gifts like Tiny Tan bandages or photo card key holders – there were even BTS ‘Butter’ branded facemasks and Butter branded acrylic clocks.

P.S. Keep an eye out for the BTS Dynamite Lego set on the ground floor – alas not for sale but very cool! These can be bought at Seoul Lego stores (we found BTS Lego available at The Hyundai Seoul Lego branch).

Check out this calendar of K-Pop events, concerts and tours with Trazy >

13. Meet K-Pop stars at the SBS MTV The Show or ‘Inkigayo’ TV recording

Catch a live recording of the hit South Korea K Pop music programme ‘The Show’, which appears regularly on the SBS network.

Get up close to K-Pop stars, watch them record songs for the show and enjoy the fun and behind the scenes of a TV recording.

Check availability and book ‘The Show’ tickets here >

Alternatively, if you are in Seoul on a Saturday, you can also attend the recording of another K-Pop love music show, Inkigayo, broadcast on SBS Korea too.

Check availability and book ‘Inkigayo’ tickets here >

14. Korean photo booths with K-Pop backgrounds

Time to get ‘snap happy’ at a Korean photo booth – whether you are looking for a superb selfie or gorgeous group shot with your friends or fellow travellers, Korean photo booths are easy to use and inexpensive.

Better yet, half the fun is in the taking of the pictures, with a wide variety of props or backdrops to choose from – you can even be pictured with your favourite K-Pop bands (we’ve seen ATEEZ and BTS Korean photo booths to name just a couple).

Literally located on every street corner, from pricing to poses, here is our ultimate guide to using photo booths in Korea >