Seongeup Folk Village — Attraction in Seogwipo-si

Is a complete and utter waste of time, don’t go. TLDR: there’s nothing much to see and it’s all set up as an elaborate sales pitch to hard sell you their products like horse cream and berry honey from Hallasan.

We walked in completely unaware of what was about to unfold and this seemingly kindly lady came up to us and started a tour without us requesting one. It was already kind of strange since we just wanted a quick 5 min look before lunch but got dragged into this vortex that we can’t escape from.

She started by sharing with us random information about the village like how the pillars indicate time of day etc then showed the kitchen and the room etc. Then there was this big sad LIVING black pig in a small sty. We were told that people used to feed their poop to the pig. Then it started with gradual pitch.

We were brought to some hallasan honey outdoors and the lady dip two plastic spoons into the honey for us to try. I was a bit skeptical and uncomfortable but also afraid to be rude to refuse so we tried it. We thought it might be part of the cultural experience, and I was thinking we might probably need to pay a touring fee at the end for this service, despite not asking for one.

After this we were brought into a room full of products like the honey and horse cream and some kind of drink and the sales pitch was STRONG. Despite refusing the items politely because we really don’t need any of it, the lady was INSISTENT. She even translated on her device that because they don’t collect admission fees they rely on products sales to keep the attraction running. Frankly that feels like ethical and emotional blackmailing because it makes it feel like MY responsibility to buy things I don’t want to keep their attraction alive, when the honest and transparent way to do that would be to charge a reasonable entrance fee rather than hard sell products at high prices. The horse cream was 50000won (~$50) and the drink was 60000. Then when we refused she says she can give discount. Which is even more suspicious because that seems like rubber pricing based on the gullibility of the customer.

Anyway after refusing for really long and being in an utter stalemate since she won’t let us leave and we don’t want to buy, we offer to give her a tip for the tour and she agreed. So we pay 10,000won ($10) and just left. Really awful experience to be tricked like this.

Also a few things to note: not sure if the spoons they used are clean as we see a bowl of water with the plastic (single use) spoons soaking in it. Hopefully they wash the spoons carefully la, which I think they do to not contaminate the honey right, but the ick feeling was a bit strong. really nothing interesting to see just don’t waste your time. my review pretty much gives you the gist of the tour already so just save yourself some time and ick and go...

Note: if you're driving in Jeju, you should download the Naver maps that has english navigations guidance available; google maps does not provide navigation in Korea. If you require driving tips/guide in jeju, go to my profile and look for my review for lotte rent a car auto house. * 👍: -These are traditional houses where people still stay here. -Free to visit 👎: -In all honestly I would not recommend coming here as its more of a tourist trap. Once you enter the gates there are seemingly "kind" ladies that offer to explain the history of the village to you and show you around for free. They will really bring you around and explain and even give you some berries drink. This soon however, turns into a sales gimmick where they bring you to a house and try to sell you some cream and horse bone supplements. These supplements are not cheap. The horse bone ones cost upwards of a couple of hundred dollars. -It's not hard to tell why there are almost nobody here and only a handful of tourists. Don't make the same mistake we did and waste your time here. -Asides from that, there is really nothing else of value or interesting to see. I would recommend you go to the other Jeju folk village which is paid entry, but is so much bigger and has more...

Interesting folk village about an hour drive from cruise terminal. There is plenty of parking for small vehicles and tour buses. Just before the entrance is a series of souvenir and coffee shops. Very cheap coffee and smoothies. Worth a trip and perhaps second wind from the drive. The entrance to the village is a large wooden gate which is one of a couple entry points surrounded by a large tall stone wall. Within the grounds are several shops, a sprinkle of authentic foods and craft such as weaved dyed scarves, dresses and shirts. There is a modern influence though such as the self checkout hut with food and souvenirs and is exactly how it sounds. About towards the center of the village is a tall tree almost original to the 600 year old village. There we were fortunate enough to see a traditional march from the locals dressed in replica clothing. On that note, there are a couple shops that allow day rental of authentic garb and they did take a credit card. On the way out, be sure to take a minute to enjoy the large Canola flower fields, a very perfect picture moment. Overall, the folk village achieves an authentic step back in time to appreciate the village life...