KBS On Experience Hall

• Address: 13, Yeouigongwon-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul
• Closest Subway: National Assembly Station
• Exit: 4
• Operating Hours: 9:30 – 17:30
• Closed: New Year’s Day, Seollal (Lunar New Year) & Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) Holidays, first Monday of every month

 

Dwarfed by the enormous facade of KBS On Main Building

How to Get There

Take Line 9 (Brown) to National Assembly Station Exit 4. Walk straight then turn right and walk straight again. KBS building is located at the end of the road. Get inside the building towards the hall.

The National Assembly Building and Station Exit 5

How to Reserve

KBS On is Korea’s first experience and exhibition hall in media and broadcasting field. It showcases the past, present, and future of Korea’s broadcasting. Admission is free and no reservations are necessary for individuals up to 10 people. For groups of 11 or more, reservations can be made through its website.

The KBS On Experience

Once inside the main hall, Song Joong Ki welcomed us! Well, not the real live one but a real-life looking replica of the actor.

Holding hands while walking with Song Joong Ki

The Experience Hall is located on the fourth floor and one has to climb the stairs to reach it. Walking up the stairs, you can see large posters of KBS’s programs including drama, documentary, news, etc.

I was Pyo Na Ri for a brief moment

The virtual studio creates special effects for various programs including weather forecast, news, and so on. I tried to be Pyo Na Ri (Jealousy Incarnate) for a moment.

Boys Over Flowers – the series that started my second-lead syndrome (Ji Hoo) and my love for Korean dramas

Winter Sonata – the drama that started the Korean wave (or Hallyu wave)

IRIS – the explosive drama starring Lee Byung Hun

Passing through the KBS drama hallway, one can select and watch videos by genre and period through a multi-touch monitor. One can have souvenir photos with famous characters from Winter Sonata, the Korean drama that started the Hallyu wave.

There is a hallway dedicated to KBS’s variety shows like 2 Days 1 Night and another for K-Pop. There is a large poster of CNBLUE’s fans during one Music bank show.

CNBLUE’s international fans at Music Bank

Visitors can also experience becoming a news presenter by reading a manuscript being played on a prompter. We didn’t know how to operate this so we were contented by pretending to read the news and take pictures of ourselves on the small monitor.

Trying to be newscasters

Towards the end of the hall is the kiddie program and photo zone section as well as the cartoon dubbing experience corner. Here, children and adults can enjoy the experience of becoming the characters of KBS cartoons.

On the fifth floor is a history museum of broadcasting, showing the history of Korea’s broadcasting since 1927. Here, visitors can experience KBS World, which is broadcasted in all parts of the world in 11 different languages.

This is the main building as seen from the main road. Music Bank is on the right side of this building.

 

The one hour we spent here was indeed time well spent. Knowing more not just about Korean dramas but also about the entire broadcasting field was a very refreshing experience for us.