Christmas in August Day Trip to Gunsan: 1 Spot (1 Confirmed)

About the film

Christmas in August (8월의 크리스마스) is a 1998 South Korean romantic drama directed by Hur Jin-ho in his feature debut, released on 24 January 1998. Han Suk-kyu plays Jung-won, a quiet photo-studio owner in a small town who is living with a terminal illness; Shim Eun-ha plays Da-rim, a parking attendant whose errands keep bringing her to his studio, and whose visits slowly become the centre of his remaining days. The film screened in the International Critics’ Week at Cannes in 1998 and won Best Film at both the Baeksang Arts Awards and the Blue Dragon Film Awards that year. It has stayed a touchstone of Korean melodrama ever since — and almost everything in it happens in and around one small photo studio.

Filming location: Chowon Photo Studio (Confirmed)

That studio stands in Wolmyeong-dong, Gunsan — and its own story is nearly as gentle as the film’s. NewsWA’s account of the location (16 October 2026) tells how the production wanted a real photo studio rather than a built set, searched the whole country without finding the right mood, and then, resting in a Gunsan café, spotted an ordinary garage across the street under deep summer tree shade. The crew persuaded the owner to lend it, converted it into Jung-won’s studio, and gave it a name suggested by Han Suk-kyu himself — Chowon, after a photo studio from the neighbourhood he grew up in. The Korea Tourism Organization’s Gunsan course states the claim plainly: Chowon Photo Studio is the filming location of Christmas in August, and the retro sign and alley scenery from the film are still there.

One thing a visitor should know before going: the building you enter is a restoration, and the guide says so rather than dressing it up. Under the production’s promise to the garage’s owner, the studio was demolished as soon as filming ended. The film became a classic, fans kept travelling to Gunsan to find the site, and Gunsan City eventually rebuilt the studio exactly as it appeared on screen and preserved it permanently. Inside are the props the sources describe — the film’s cameras, an old electric fan, photo albums — and entry is free. It is graded Confirmed: an official tourism source and independent press coverage both name this ground as where the film was shot.

The Korea Tourism Organization lists the studio at 12-1, Guyeong 2-gil, open Monday 09:00–18:00 and Tuesday–Sunday 09:00–21:30 (information dated April 2025, so check before you go), with parking at nearby lots.

What happens at the studio in the film

Jung-won runs a modest photo studio and lives with his widowed father; his clients include bickering elementary-school students and an elderly woman seeking a funeral portrait. Da-rim, a parking enforcer, first races into his store urgently needing some photos developed, then keeps coming back — and the two steadily grow closer over ice cream in summer and a promise of a drink together as fall approaches. As Jung-won’s condition deteriorates, his store isn’t always open, which leaves a confused Da-rim pacing outside its windows waiting for him to return. These are synopsis points from the Korean Film Council (KOFIC), not invented scenes.

VisitKorea’s English listing notes that a majority of the movie was filmed at this photo studio. One clarification: the film’s town is a fictional mid-sized town — Gunsan is the filming location, not the story setting.

Getting to Gunsan — and to Wolmyeong-dong

Fares and schedules change. Prefer official pages on your travel day.

By bus, the fastest option: direct express buses run from Seoul Central City Bus Terminal (Honam Line) to Gunsan Express Bus Terminal every 20–30 minutes, taking about 2 hours 30 minutes. By rail, there is no direct KTX to Gunsan: direct Saemaeul and Mugunghwa trains run from Seoul’s Yongsan Station down the Janghang Line into Gunsan Station, roughly hourly, in about 3–3.5 hours; alternatively, take a KTX to Iksan and transfer to a Janghang Line train (no fare or time stated for the transfer option). For the last leg, take a taxi to Wolmyeong-dong — no verified city-bus route to the studio was found, so plan that part with the map links on the stop card. Check times on Korail before you travel: https://www.korail.com/global/eng

Make a walk of it: the studio and Gunsan’s old town

These are nearby sights, NOT Christmas in August filming locations — the guide’s only stop remains Chowon Photo Studio. Gunsan is a film city in its own right (VisitKorea notes about 200 movies have been filmed here), and the walk below follows the VisitKorea film-tour itinerary’s order.

Gunsan Cinema Road is directly connected to the studio. Its address is 60, Guyeong 6-gil, it is open year-round, and its wall of still cuts covers films shot in Gunsan including Tazza and The Man from Nowhere — those are other films’ credits, not this guide’s stops.

Gunsan Modern History Street and the Gunsan Modern History Museum (240 Haemang-ro) come next: March–October 09:00–18:00, November–February 09:00–17:00, closed Mondays, 1 January and mayor-designated holidays, last admission 30 minutes before closing, with free parking.

Haemanggul Tunnel (48 Gunsanchang 2-gil) opened in 1926, burrows beneath Wolmyeong Park, served as a wartime command post, and still shows bullet marks on its walls; it is closed to vehicles and open to pedestrians only, year-round.

Wolmyeong Park (26 Wolmyeonggongwon 1-gil), connected to the tunnel, offers views over Gunsan and the sea and is open year-round. Note: the VisitKorea article calls it a famous filming location from the movie Man in Love — a different film, not a Christmas in August location.

A little further: Dongguksa and the Railroad Village

Dongguksa Temple is a Japanese-style temple VisitKorea dates to 1909, built by a Japanese monk and run by Japanese monks for 36 years under occupation before reverting to Korean jurisdiction at liberation in 1945. VisitKorea describes it as one of the nation’s few surviving Japanese-style temples; its Daeungjeon Hall and Yosachae are connected by a corridor, and it is notably undecorated compared with colourful Korean temples. It was designated a cultural heritage site in July 2003 and is now a branch of Seonunsa Temple in Gochang.

Gyeongamdong Railroad Village grew around a 2.5 km railway line opened in 1944 under Japanese colonial rule, connecting the Paper Korea factory and Gunsan Station; settled around the railway, it grew into a town in the 1970s. The line was previously called the North Sun Paper Railway, then the Goryeo Paper Railway, then the Saedae/Sepoong Railway, then the Paper Korea Line.

One optional extra: Jinpo Maritime Theme Park (Jinpo Marine War Park), a port-area park where visitors can tour inside and outside tanks, airplanes and ships of the Korean military.

Tips

• Check the closure days before a Monday visit: the studio is closed every first and third Monday of the month. The listed hours alone imply Monday opening, so this is easy to miss.
• Entry is free.
• Photo-by-email: after visitors take photos at the studio, the studio managers send their photos by email (VisitKorea).
• The studio’s phone is +82 063-445-6879 (VisitKorea film-tour article).
• Remember the building is Gunsan City’s restoration of the demolished original, not the 1998 garage itself — stated openly above.
• The old town is flat and walkable; one blog describes the modern-history core as barely a kilometre and a half from the waterfront museums to the heritage temples, so the walk above is easy on foot.
• People have continued to visit the studio for more than 20 years, its atmosphere still intact (VisitKorea).

The studio gained renewed attention when IU paid homage to Christmas in August with the music video for her remake of ‘Never Ending Story’.

Make a film day of it

The places below are for pairing with the studio — they are NOT additional Christmas in August filming locations.

Morning: Gunsan Cinema Road (60 Guyeong 6-gil, open year-round), a street of film stills inside the Gunsan Time Travel Village. VisitKorea’s own film course starts here at 11:00 and reaches the studio at 12:30, the walk itself feeling like moving through the story. In some years, an astonishing 18 films were reportedly shot in Gunsan at the same time.

Afternoon: Gunsan Modern History Street (14:30 on the diary’s course), heritage buildings beside contemporary shops. Its famous jjamppong restaurant is a Tazza filming location, not a Christmas in August one.

Late afternoon: Haemanggul Tunnel (48 Gunsanchang 2-gil; opened 1926 beneath Wolmyeong Park; a wartime command post; pedestrians only, bullet marks still visible on the walls) and Wolmyeong Park above it for sea views. Wolmyeong Park is itself a Man in Love location, not a Christmas in August one.

City context: Gunsan is a city where about 200 movies have been filmed — a city-level fact, not this production’s credit.

How we checked

The filming claim rests on two independent sources, both re-read in the original before publication: the Korea Tourism Organization’s Gunsan travel course, which names Chowon Photo Studio as the film’s filming location and lists its address and hours, and NewsWA’s October 2026 feature, which tells the garage-to-studio story in detail — the nationwide search, the café window, Han Suk-kyu’s suggested name, the demolition promise and the city’s restoration. A travel blog’s listing for the studio was read but not used for facts, because its closed days conflict with the tourism organization’s hours. No photograph is published with the guide: the available photos of the studio carry no reusable licence, and the licensed libraries this site draws on returned none, so the page runs without one rather than with an uncleared image.

Sources

The stop card above shows the two claim sources. This guide also relies on:

1. Christmas in August — English Wikipedia — release date, director, cast, Cannes screening and Best Film awards
2. 8월의 크리스마스 — Korean Wikipedia — production company (Uno Film) and Korean release details

Full source list (16)

1. Korea Tourism Organization (VisitKorea) — Gunsan travel course (Korean) — the studio named as the film’s filming location; address, hours, free admission, parking
2. NewsWA (16 October 2026) — the story behind the Christmas in August filming location (Korean) — garage conversion, the name’s origin, demolition after filming, city restoration, props on display
3. Christmas in August — English Wikipedia — film basics and awards
4. 8월의 크리스마스 — Korean Wikipedia — production company and release details
5. VisitKorea Hallyu Diary Vol. 18 — To Gunsan, Following the Footsteps of Film (Dec 31, 2025, upd. Jan 21, 2026) — film-day course (Cinema Road, Modern History Street, Haemanggul Tunnel, Wolmyeong Park), first/third-Monday closures, IU homage (checked Oct 28, 2026)
6. VisitKorea accessible listing — Chowon Photo Studio — ramp, wheelchair-accessible entrance, disabled toilet with infant seat; lists every Monday closed and Tuesday–Sunday 09:00–18:00, conflicting with the diary (checked Oct 28, 2026)
7. VisitKorea — Chowon Photo Studio listing — photo-email service, free entry, cameras/fans/albums exhibited (checked Oct 28, 2026)
8. Kunsan University press piece — movies and books related to Gunsan (Nov 9, 2021) — Tico car driven by Da-rim displayed outside the studio; also says closed every Monday (checked Oct 28, 2026)
9. Korean Film Council (KOFIC) — Christmas in August essay (2020) — synopsis points tied to the studio
10. VisitKorea — Gunsan Modern History Museum (English) — address, hours, closed days, last admission, free parking
11. VisitKorea — Dongguksa Temple (English) — 1909, Japanese-style temple history, heritage designation
12. Saemangeum Development Agency — Gunsan attractions (English) — Gyeongamdong Railroad Village history
13. VisitKorea — Gunsan guesthouse feature (English) — Jinpo Maritime Theme Park (secondary mention)
14. Rome2Rio — Seoul to Gunsan routes and Yongsan to Gunsan — bus frequency and duration; direct-train duration
15. RailMonsters — Seoul to Gunsan — no direct KTX; direct Saemaeul/Mugunghwa via the Janghang Line; KTX-to-Iksan transfer pattern
16. RoamLore — Gunsan guide (blog) — bus frequency and duration; walkable old town (blog-sourced where used)