Suwon Haenggungdong Mural Village: Street Art in Korea

South Korea, the land of kimchi,K-Pop and Samsung, isn’t often praised for its creative talents. Most of the images that we see of Korea portray a country full of opposites. High rise buildings stand side by side with traditional hanok houses. Neon lights blaze against ancient, ornate temples. Our impression of Korea is that it is a country that works hard, studies hard and excels in the fields of science and technology.

These days, however, unbeknown to most of the world, in back alleyways across the country, there seems to be a creative revolution going on. Artists in Korea have come together to create their own form of street art in the form of charming backstreet mural villages. What I love most about these villages is that they haven’t tried to plagiarise the street art of cities like Berlin, Melbourne and New York. Instead, they’ve created mural villages full of street art with a Korean flair.

Last month when I visited Suwon, I discovered that the city has it’s own mural village, Suwon Haenggungdong Mural Village. I always make an effort to visit these mural villages, so it was a no-brainer for me to have a look and see what it had to offer.

Suwon Haenggungdong Mural Village isn’t well known among tourists but has just as much to offer as the more popular mural villages in the country. Even though we visited on the weekend, we still had the place to ourselves. It’s conveniently located within walking distance of the fortress wall, too, so you should definitely pay it a visit if you’re in the area.

For a sneak peak of what you can see there, here are some of my favourite photos from the day.

If you’re thinking about visiting Suwon, don’t miss my guide on how to spend a day there.

Let me know, have you visited any of the art villages in Korea?