The Dark Side of Seoul Podcast
Channel Details
The Dark Side of Seoul Podcast
Korean dark history, ghost tales, folklore, serial killers, true crime, and more. You are about to discover why Korea has the spookiest stories and darkest history.Folklorist Shawn and history buff Joe delve into Korea's gruesome stories of massacres, betrayals, and blood. It's like "Game of Thrones...
Recent Episodes
305 episodes
SEAblings vs. K-netz: When K-pop Fandom Turned Into a Regional Reckoning
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A minor concert rule violation at a Day6 show in Kuala Lumpur ignites a much larger confrontation between Southeast Asian K-pop fans...
Reading the Dead: What Korean Graves Tell Us
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Winter is cemetery season in Korea.
With the grass dead, snakes gone, and sightlines open, this is when Korea’s hillside cemet...
Who Should Still Be Driving in Korea?
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South Korea became a super-aged society in 2025. The effects are showing up everywhere, but nowhere more visibly than on the roads.<...
Where Have All the Soju Tents Gone? Part 2
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Our 300th episode!
Pojangmacha didn’t disappear by accident.
In Part 2 of Where Have All the Soju Tents Gone, Joe and Sh...
Where Have All the Soju Tents Gone? Part 1
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There is no Waffle House in Korea.
For decades, the pojangmacha was the last line of defense against going home hungry, broke,...
Christmas Nightmares 2: Holiday Crimes
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Christmas is often framed as a moment of peace, forgiveness, and reflection. But in Korean history, Christmas Eve has repeatedly bee...
Christmas Nightmares 1: Darkest Holiday Stories
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Christmas is supposed to be a time of warmth, safety, and reunion. But history doesn’t always cooperate.
In Part 1 of our two-...
K-Hacked: How Coupang Exposed Korea’s Cybersecurity Mess
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Shawn and Joe dig into Korea’s crumbling cybersecurity myth and the Coupang leak that exposed almost every user in the country. Kore...
Weird Tours
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Shawn and Joe trade war stories from the front lines of Seoul’s tour scene. Influencers melting down in costume, drunk guests apolog...
Short: The Expat Quest for Thanksgiving
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This is a blog post I (Joe) wrote on ZenKimchi.com in 2012 about the extreme lengths expats in Korea would go to for creating Thanks...
The Secret Military Club That Hijacked Korea
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Korea’s modern history has plenty of villains, but Hanahoe might be the most quietly terrifying. This was the private club of milita...
Moving Graves
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Special Guest: Ron Chang
Korean graves do not always stay where you put them. In this episode, Ron Chang joins us to talk abou...
The West Comes Knocking | The Fall of Joseon, part 18 (1791-1801)
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When a Dutch sailor shipwrecked on Jeju in 1627, he thought he’d been captured by cannibals. Instead, he became Korea’s first Wester...
Haunted Barracks: Korea’s Military Ghost Stories
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The Korean military is haunted — literally and culturally. Soldiers whisper about phantom footsteps, cold spots inside fences, and r...
Shawn Wrote a Spooky Book
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Here it is! Finally! Shawn Morrissey's much anticipated book of Korean supernatural encounters is released. We ask him your question...
Why Korean City Slogans Sound So Weird (and Why We Love Them Anyway)
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Korean cities love English slogans, but rarely get them right. From “Hi Seoul” to “Busan is Good,” we explore how Korea’s branding o...
From Madness to Reform | The Fall of Joseon, part 17
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King Jeongjo inherited a kingdom broken by madness, murder, and factional greed. In this episode, we look at how the grandson of Yeo...
Kidnapped!
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Kidnapping and abduction attempts are on the rise in Korea, with more than nine cases per week. We break down the numbers, the shock...
Cursed Landmarks
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We tour Korea’s “cursed landmarks,” from the Blue House to Jongno Tower, the National Assembly, Cheonggyecheon, and beyond. These s...
Cruel Summer 2: Crueler Summerer
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Our follow-up to Cruel Summer shows Korea’s August crimes were just as horrific. A shaman murdered her niece in a ritual. Couples t...
Cruel Summer
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Summer in Korea sucks. This was a record-breaking year for temps. Floods were awful again. Crime was pretty damn bad, too. Big one,...
K-Pop Demon Hunters: Folklore & Satire
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K-Pop Demon Hunters looks flashy on the surface, but it hides a lot of Korean folklore inside the glitter. We talk about mudang ritu...
The Wailing Woman and the Red-Hatted Ghosts of Korea | Spooky Chills Summer
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We close out Spooky Summer with a set of chilling Korean ghost stories and urban legends. Joe shares tales of the Wailing Woman, the...
Ghost Stories That Grew Up With the City | Spooky Chills Summer
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A chill night-walk through Korea’s darker folklore: we bring together old graves, cursed bills, haunted portraits, and digital terro...
11 Haunted Haunts of Seoul | Spooky Chills Summer
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Shawn and Joe guide you through 11 of Seoul’s eeriest locations—from the pressure-draining crossroads at Sejong Intersection to the...
Spooky Chills Summer: Unsettling Urban Legends
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Turn off the lights. Slip on your headphones. Tonight’s Spooky Summer episode takes you to the edge of your seat with five skin-craw...
Spooky Chills Summer: Our Creepiest Stories
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Ready to pucker up from sheer creepiness? Ditch the cheery summer playlists and crank your earbuds—these tales will haunt your dream...
Spooky Chills Summer: Ghost Stories on Jayuro Highway
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Shawn and Joe take you on a fog-shrouded drive down Paju’s Jayuro Highway to hunt the road’s most bone-chilling legends: the Woman i...
Spooky Summer Ghost Stories 2025
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We kick of Spooky Chills Summer 2025 with three fresh stories and more.
Brace yourselves for three spine-tinglers in Spooky Ch...
Prince Sado’s Madness and Murder | The Fall of Joseon, part 16 (1735-1762)
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Prince Sado’s life reads like a gothic horror: crowned heir, but driven mad by his father’s cold perfectionism, he slew palace serva...
POSCO Unforged: Corruption, Accidents, & Cover-Ups
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POSCO helped forge modern South Korea, but at what cost? We trace the company’s origins under Park Chung-hee’s grand steel plan, its...
North Korea 75 Years Later with Jacco Zwetsloot (NK News Podcast)
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Seventy-five years after the Korean War began, North Korea still defines its identity by the conflict. NK News Podcast host Jacco Z...
Unwelcome Guests: The 1871 US Incident in Korea
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Featuring Thomas Duvernay, PhD | Sinmiyangyo: The 1871 Conflict Between the United States and Korea
When American warships ste...
Yeongjo’s Quest for Balance: Ending Factional Fury | Fall of Joseon 15
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After the Noron and Soron slaughter of 1721–22, Joseon lay fractured. When Prince Yeoning ascended as King Yeongjo, he resolved to b...
Korea and Canada Share Folklore?
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You may find it hard to believe that two countries as different as Korea and Canada have shared folklore. Why is that? And just what...
Unexplained Deaths of Expats in Korea
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Death is inevitable, but for many expats in Korea, the cause of death remains a mystery. In this episode, we delve into the unsettl...
When Love Meets Politics | Fall of Joseon, part 14
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King Sukjong's reign, beginning at just 13 years old, was a turbulent time for Joseon, marked by power struggles, love affairs, and...
Tragic Ghosts
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What makes a ghost so moody, and why are some spirits bound to haunt the living with vengeance and sorrow? We explore the most tragi...
Ask Us. We Dare You!
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What is something about Korea that’s overrated? Why is shamanism viewed so negatively? How has Korean changed since COVID? We took y...
Ghost Book Sneak Peek
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Shawn gives us a preview of his upcoming book about Korean ghost stories, encounters, and folklore.
Korea's #1 ghost and dark...