South Korean movie, Parasite made history in the 92nd Academy Awards by winning four Oscars. Bong Joon Ho’s directorial class satire won Best Picture and Original Screenplay awards. The movie has garnered appreciation from everyone, critics and moviegoers alike. There’s almost a cult-like following for this movie now all over the world, and especially South Korea.
The film revolves around three families belonging to different economic status in South Korea. The film follows Kim Ki Woo (played by Choi Woo Shik), an enterprising young man who’s secured a tutoring job for the wealthy Park family. Soon, Ki Woo hatches a devious scheme to ensure that his sister, father, and mother are all hired by the Parks. The Kims move through the Parks’ world as studious interlopers, alternately observing the wealth around them from a distance and gleefully availing themselves of its spoils.
After dominating the Oscars, people in South Korea have become ‘Parasite’ crazy. Every publication has featured the cast on the front page. The days after the film won Oscars, people are flocking to different locations around Seoul – which were featured in the movie.
If you are visiting South Korea, then you need to check out the locations where the Parasite was filmed in Seoul.
Most of the action takes place in the homes of the two protagonists’ families – the Kims and the Parks. Kims home is a semi-basement apartment, and the Parks have an architectural marvel. Both the houses were a set created for the film, but there were plenty of real-life shoot locations spread out all over Seoul.
Woori Supermarket – Seoul’s Doijissal Supermarket (or Pig Rice Supermarket)
The supermarket is featured early in the film where young Kim Ki Woo (Choi Woo Shik) is seen drinking Soju, a popular Korean spirit. At this location he learns about the potential part-time job with a wealthy family for tutoring.
The scene is filmed at Seoul’s Doijissal Supermarket (or Pig Rice Supermarket), and it features the same old school Lotte ice cream fridge. It has become a popular photo spot for tourists, thanks to the movie.
Address: Doijissal Supermarket (Woori Supermarket), 32 Songijeong-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul; Open daily from 8:30 a.m.-00:30 a.m.
Seongbuk-dong
On the way to the tutoring job interview for the Parks, Kim walks past a charming village called Seongbuk-dong. It is an affluent hillside neighborhood and is home to many ambassadors’ residences, cafes, and art galleries.
Address: 24, Seonjam-ro 8-gil, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul
Staircase to the Park house
These stairs are featured in the scene where sister/daughter/pretend art therapist Kim Ki Jung (Park So Dam) buys a bunch of peaches and carries them up the stairs to the Park’s home to get her mother a job. The stairs are just a stone’s throw away from the Doijissal Supermarket.
Seoul Tourism Organization
Address: 3 Songijeong-ro, 6-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Staircase to Jahamun Tunnel
The stairs outside Jahamun Tunnel marks its presence in the film’s most pivotal scene. After a shocking discovery, the members of the Kim family are forced to spend the night hiding under a coffee table when the Parks return home unexpectedly from their camping trip. Eventually, the Kims escape unseen into the pouring rain and the Seoul’s Jahamun Tunnel. It was specifically to depict the class disparity between the rich and the poor by the director Bong Joon Ho.
Seoul Tourism Organization
Address: 219, Jahamun-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul
Orga Whole Foods
It is another grocery store featured in the movie where Park Yeon Kyo goes to buy all the goodies she needs for her son’s birthday party.
Address: Orga Whole Foods, 4, Yangjae-daero 71-gil, Songpa-gu, Seoul
Pizza Generation – Sky Pizza
The pizzeria exists in real life sort of – Pizza Generation is based on the real-life pizzeria, Sky Pizza. It is a mom-and-pop pizzeria, first opened 17 years ago. The place provided the film crew with the stacks of green and orange pizza boxes that father Kim Ki-taek (Song Kang Ho) folds — albeit quite poorly — in the movie. Sky Pizza is also famous for its Korean fried chicken.
Address: Sky Pizza, 86, Noryangjin-ro 6-gil, Dongjak-gu, Seoul; Open every day from 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Sky Pizza is the perfect place to end your ‘Parasite’ tour with a belly full of food!
