Tongdosa, Cheongju, Yeosu: heritage media art to 8 Nov, free

Korea Heritage Media Art 2026 is a relay of night-time light shows staged by the Korea Heritage Service (국가유산청) and the Korea Heritage Agency on heritage sites around the country: twelve venues this year, up from eight in 2025, opening on 14 August at Jinju Fortress and closing on 8 November at Jinnamgwan in Yeosu. Each one projects film onto the walls of a historic building or precinct and adds AI, mixed-reality or interactive pieces that tell that place's story after dark. By mid-October nine venues have finished, leaving Tongdosa Temple in Yangsan, the old centre of Cheongju and Jinnamgwan in Yeosu. This page sets the three side by side, checked against each venue's official site, the Korea Tourism Organization's festival listings and Yeosu City's announcement: dates, hours, closing days, bookings and how to get there without reading Korean.

Which venues are still open, and which have finished

Going by the schedule in the Korea Heritage Service's 3 August press release, Jinju Fortress (6 September), Gunsan (20 September), Daereungwon in Gyeongju, Mireuksa Temple Site in Iksan and Jeongnimsa Temple Site in Buyeo (27 September), the Goryeo Palace Site in Ganghwa (4 October) and the Labor Party Headquarters in Cheorwon, the Yi Sun-sin memorial site in Asan and the Tongjeyeong naval headquarters in Tongyeong (11 October) are all over. The table below has the essentials for the three that remain; the source for each line is in brackets.

Tongdosa until 18 October: the first to close

Tongdosa is the one to see first. The Korea Heritage Service says that where last year's show was concentrated at the temple entrance, this year the whole precinct is the stage, and the official site lays out eight scenes on a single walking route, from 'The Gate of Beginning' at the Yeongchuk Chongnim Gate to the main performance 'Flower of the Heart' projected onto Haejangbogak hall. Scenes 1 to 7 run continuously from 19:00 to 21:00; only the scene 8 performance mapping has set times, at 19:30 and 20:30. Entry closes at 20:00 at the temple's outer gate, and a notice of 25 September warns that admission may stop earlier when the grounds are crowded. The scene-by-scene route is in our separate Tongdosa guide.

The full route takes 30 to 40 minutes, or over an hour at a slow pace. Cars cannot enter the temple grounds during the event and the inner car park is closed from 17:00, so park at the outer-gate car park or at Tongdo Fantasia car park 5 (the temporary public lot) and walk in; the official site recommends the Fantasia lot on weekends and holidays. By public transport, take city bus 12 or 13 from Yangsan or Eonyang bus terminal, or bus 13 from Ulsan (Tongdosa) KTX station. Pets, tripods, flash, commercial filming, live streaming and food are not allowed.

Side events continue on the grounds. The chrysanthemum display ('Gukhwa Jangeom') runs from 17 September to 25 October, so it outlasts the media art, and on Monday 19 October, the day after the light show ends, the temple holds its founding-anniversary ceremony in the courtyard in front of the main Daeungjeon hall.

How to walk the Cheongju Iron Flagpole show, until 24 October

Cheongju's first Heritage Media Art runs in the old city centre until Saturday 24 October, daily from 19:00 to 22:00. It links four sites, the Yongdusa Iron Flagpole (a National Treasure cast in 962), Mangseonru pavilion, the 900-year-old Apgaksu ginkgo tree and the gate of the former Chungcheong Provincial Army Command, into one story: Cheongju was once nicknamed Juseong, the 'ship-shaped town', and the show is framed as a voyage to find the town's treasures. Seongan-gil, the pedestrian shopping street between the four sites, is lit and dotted with photo spots so the walk never breaks. There are no closing days.

The five main scenes and how many times each plays per night, as listed on the official site. Check the boards on site or the official channels for the exact times.

1. Scene 1 'A Thousand-Year Voyage' at the Iron Flagpole, 4 shows a night: the ship Juseong, woken by children's drawings, sets sail to find the town's treasures
2. Scene 2 'Wisdom, the Record of the Exams' at Mangseonru, 6 shows a night: scholars' stories that begin with the civil-service exam honour roll once hung in the pavilion
3. Scene 3 'Life, the Ginkgo's Memory' at the Apgaksu tree, 6 shows a night: a drop of water climbs the 900-year-old ginkgo and relays Cheongju's memories
4. Scene 4 'Guardian, the Tunnel of Time' at the Army Command gate, 6 shows a night: Cheongju becoming a fortified stronghold after the Japanese invasions
5. Scene 5 'Wish, the Mast of Juseong' at the Iron Flagpole, 4 shows a night: the finale, the mast raised with Goryeo-era casting

Two things need a booking. Scene 6, 'The Sound of History, A Thousand-Year Walk', is a 30-minute spatial-audio walk from the Iron Flagpole through the old walled town, at 19:00 and 21:00; it plays through your own phone, so bring one, and bring earphones because the headsets on site run out early. The 'Seongan Walk' is an evening tour led by a Cheongju cultural tourism guide through the Iron Flagpole, Central Park and Seongan-gil, once a night at 20:00, not on Mondays, meeting at the Cheongju Tourist Information Centre (21 Sangdang-ro 55beon-gil). Both are free and both are booked by scanning the QR code on the official site and installing an app; everything in the app, and both walks, are in Korean. The rest needs no booking: a pop-up exhibition by young artists in empty Seongan-gil shops (scene 7), the lit street and photo spots (scene 8), and a goods-or-voucher giveaway for people who watch the show and then shop on Seongan-gil (scene 9). On weekends and holidays there is street performance and a make-your-own-lantern stall on the Iron Flagpole plaza.

There is no dedicated car park and the official site asks visitors to use public transport. Local buses 1611 (get off at Yongdusaji Cheoldanggan), 1541 and 1540 (Youth Start-up Centre) and 1543 and 1542 (Cheongju Bridge) all stop nearby. If you drive, the paid Seongan-gil customer car parks (109-6 and 124 Seomun-dong) and the City Council car park (39 Sangdang-ro 69beon-gil; paid on weekdays, free at weekends) are the options. Enquiries go to the Cheongju Cultural Industry Promotion Foundation on +82-43-219-1020.

When Yeosu's Jinnamgwan is closed: Tuesdays, open until 8 November

Jinnamgwan in Yeosu runs the longest, until Sunday 8 November, from 19:30 to 21:30 daily, closed every Tuesday. The stage is a National Treasure: the guest hall of the Jeolla Left Naval Command, built in 1599, which has just come out of a complete dismantle-and-rebuild restoration that took about ten years, which is why this year's theme is 'Rebuilt in Light'. The Korea Heritage Service says a virtual-reality reconstruction of the naval command runs alongside the show.

Combining Yeosu City's announcement with the Korea Tourism Organization listing, there are three stages.

• Jinnamgwan, 'Rebuilt in Immortal Light': projection mapping on the hall itself, telling the history of the naval command and its rebuilding and the thinking and strategy of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, who directed the war from here. It plays in cycles, so check the board on site for the next showing when you arrive.
• Gosodae, 'The Light of Care, Settling on the Ground': a continuous multimedia show around the memorial pavilion and protected trees on the hill, with pieces called 'Byeotnwi' and 'Memory of the Tarubi stele'.
• The turtle ship on Yi Sun-sin Square, 'Light of the Square, Spreading into the City': a media facade on the replica turtle ship about Yi Sun-sin and the ship's birth. Scan the QR code and send a photo you took in Yeosu and it is folded into the projection.

Inside the Jinnamgwan relics hall a large screen hosts an AI 'metahuman' Yi Sun-sin you can talk to; the official pages mention no English mode, so expect Korean. A stamp trail covers three points, Jinnamgwan, the Tarubi stele and the turtle ship, and a full card earns a small souvenir. On weekends and public holidays there are heritage craft activities, busking and a flea market, and the whole area is dressed with light sculptures modelled on Yeosu's stone guardian figures and landscape lighting on the Jwasuyeong bridge.

Checklist before you set off

• Closing order: Tongdosa Sun 18 October, then Cheongju Sat 24 October, then Yeosu Sun 8 November.
• Cost: free at all three. Cheongju's two bookable walks are free as well.
• Booking: Tongdosa and Yeosu are walk-in. In Cheongju only the scene 6 audio walk and the Seongan guided walk are booked, through an app.
• Last entry and closures: Tongdosa stops entry at 20:00 at the outer gate, earlier when crowded. Yeosu closes on Tuesdays and for the 19 October memorial period. Cheongju has no closing day (the guided walk alone rests on Mondays).
• Parking: no cars inside Tongdosa, use the outer-gate car park or Fantasia car park 5. Cheongju has no event car park. Yeosu's venues sit in the old town around Yi Sun-sin Square, where public transport is easier.
• Weather: all three are outdoor evening events and days or hours can change. Check tongdosamediaart.kr for Tongdosa, cjculturenight.org for Cheongju, and the Korea Tourism Organization listing or Instagram @media_art_yeosu for Yeosu; all are in Korean.

Getting there and what to expect without Korean

Tongdosa (Yangsan): the nearest rail stop is Ulsan (Tongdosa) station on the KTX line from Seoul, then city bus 13 to the temple; the Tongdosa IC on the Gyeongbu Expressway serves drivers. The route is one marked trail with staff at each scene, so you can follow it without reading anything. Cheongju: reach the city by intercity bus or by KTX to Osong station, then a local bus or taxi to the Iron Flagpole (bus stop 'Yongdusaji Cheoldanggan'); the four sites are a few minutes' walk apart along a lit shopping street, and the projections carry Korean text and narration. Yeosu: take the KTX to Yeosu-Expo station and a local bus or taxi to Jinnamgwan or Yi Sun-sin Square in the old town; the three stages are within walking distance of each other. None of the official sites has an English page, so use the addresses in the essentials box with a map app. The media art itself is walk-in everywhere; the only bookable items, Cheongju's two walks, run in Korean through a Korean-language app, and the official site does not say whether it takes a foreign phone number. Signage and show narration are in Korean; the projections, the lit precincts and the turtle-ship facade work without it.