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