Mokpo: Hotel Del Luna & 1987 filming locations

Why visit Mokpo for 1987

1987: When the Day Comes (1987) is a 2017 film distributed by CJ Entertainment about the June 1987 democracy movement in South Korea. The Korean Film Council summarizes the story: in 1987 Korea, under an oppressive military regime, a college student is killed during a police interrogation involving torture, officials move to cover up the death and order the body cremated, and a prosecutor who is supposed to sign the cremation release starts asking questions. The film runs 129 minutes, was released on 27 December 2017, and drew more than 7.2 million admissions in Korea. Kim Tae-ri plays Yeon-hee, a university freshman whose family runs a small shop, and Kang Dong-won plays the student Lee Han-yeol.

The film’s story follows the cover-up and the fight for the truth. Mokpo holds a place where the film’s human scale survives in brick and paint: the corner shop where Yeon-hee lives. Mokpo City restored the shop in Seosan-dong with the film’s props and opened it to visitors, so you can stand where the camera stood for the quiet scenes between the film’s loudest moments. That is what makes this a location worth a detour rather than a photo stop. The shop is small, the hillside around it is ordinary and lived-in, and the history layered into the same few streets — a wartime shelter behind the shop, a former pleasure-quarter street, a hillside that still looks like the 1980s — turns a film visit into a walk through modern Korean history.

Come for the film, and give the place an hour rather than ten minutes. The shop itself takes only a short look, but the shelter behind it, the poetry alley nearby, and the 1980s streetscape of Seosan-dong are what make the trip feel complete.

Yeonhee’s Supermarket

What the film shows here. Mokpo City says the shop was used for Yeon-hee’s family store, including two scenes it names: Han-yeol and Yeon-hee talking on the bench out front — Hankook Ilbo describes them speaking sincerely there about the pain of the political situation — and the final scene of Yeon-hee running to the protest. VisitKorea adds the household detail behind those scenes: in the story, the shop is the house where Yeon-hee, a university freshman, lives with her mother and uncle.

What to see. Mokpo City remodeled the shop to its filming-time appearance and formally opened it to the public on 12 February 2018. Inside, the city recreated the props the film used: coal briquettes (yeontan), household goods, a radio, and other 1980s items. VisitKorea’s listing adds the small things that make the recreation feel lived-in — candies, snacks, gum, daily necessities, briquettes, and newspapers from 1987. The shop is an exhibit, not a working store, and per the city’s listing a tourism guide is on site. Step outside and find the bench in front, where the film’s conversation scene was set.

Behind the shop is the second reason to come. A large air-raid shelter — 31 meters long and at most 2.6 meters wide — was dug late in the Pacific War, when the Japanese mobilized local residents by force to prepare for Allied air raids. The city has installed lighting and information signs so visitors can look back on that painful history. It is a sober counterpoint to the film set in front of it: the same hillside holds a 1980s story and a wartime one.

Around the shop, the neighborhood is part of the visit. The Sihwa village alley nearby still keeps its 1980s look, and Mokpo City’s film-theme travel page features the Seosan-dong poetry alley close by. Hankook Ilbo notes that the wider Seosan-dong area was once a Japanese pleasure-quarter street and still holds many modern-era buildings. Walk it slowly, and remember it is a residential lane: keep your voice down, do not photograph residents, and stay out of doorways and yards.

How to get there. From Seoul, check Korail for trains to Mokpo, then search the route from Mokpo Station to Seosan-dong on Naver Map (English UI). VisitKorea lists no parking at the shop, so walk or take a taxi rather than driving. The city’s tourism listing gives the address as 16 Haean-ro 127beon-gil, while VisitKorea gives 14-2 on the same street — the two numbers sit close together, so search by the place name (연희네슈퍼 / Yeonhee’s Supermarket) rather than trusting either number alone.

Tips. VisitKorea lists opening hours of 09:00–18:00, free entry, and open all year round; recheck hours on the official listing before you go, and call Mokpo Tourist Information (+82-61-270-8598) if you are unsure. The shop is tiny, so a visit fits easily into a half-day in Mokpo’s old town. Wear comfortable shoes: Seosan-dong is a hillside, and the lanes are steep in places.

Plan your trip

Combine with the rest of Mokpo. VisitKorea lists Borimadang and Sihwa Village and both Mokpo Modern History Museums as nearby. The Modern History Museum 1 — the former Japanese Consulate, a red-brick building from 1900 — is the exterior of the hotel in Hotel Del Luna; see our Hotel Del Luna in Mokpo guide for that visit. See more of the city in our Mokpo hub.

Best base. Stay in Mokpo old town, close to Seosan-dong, or at Pyeonghwa Plaza, the newer seafront area. Either works as a base for a half-day around Seosan-dong plus the old town’s museums.

FAQ

Is Yeonhee’s Supermarket a real shop? Yes. It is a real corner shop on the hillside of Seosan-dong. Mokpo City restored it with the film’s props and keeps it as a small exhibit. It is not a working store, so do not expect to buy anything there.

What scenes were filmed here? According to Mokpo City, the shop was used for Yeon-hee’s family store, including the scene of Han-yeol and Yeon-hee talking on the bench out front and the final scene of Yeon-hee running to the protest.

Is this location confirmed or reported? Reported. All of our original sources trace back to Mokpo City — its tourism listing and its press release, as carried by Kyunghyang Shinmun and Hankook Ilbo. VisitKorea’s listing corroborates the practical details, but its text mirrors the same city material, so we keep the spot reported until a fully independent source confirms the filming claim.

What are the opening hours, and does it cost anything? VisitKorea lists 09:00–18:00, free entry, and open all year round. Recheck hours on the official listing before you go.

Can I see the air-raid shelter behind the shop? Yes. The city has lit the shelter and put up information signs so visitors can look back on the wartime history. It is 31 meters long and at most 2.6 meters wide. Treat it with the same respect as the rest of the site: it was dug by residents mobilized by force late in the Pacific War.

Which address should I use? Mokpo City’s listing gives 16 Haean-ro 127beon-gil; VisitKorea gives 14-2 on the same street. Search by the place name — 연희네슈퍼 or Yeonhee’s Supermarket — on Naver Map rather than relying on either street number alone.

Is there parking? No. VisitKorea lists no parking at the shop. Walk or take a taxi.

What else is nearby? The Sihwa village alley and the Seosan-dong poetry alley are close by, and VisitKorea lists Borimadang and Sihwa Village and both Mokpo Modern History Museums as nearby. Museum 1 is the Hotel Del Luna building — see our Hotel Del Luna in Mokpo guide.

Is the neighborhood residential? Yes. Seosan-dong is a residential hillside. Keep your voice down, do not photograph residents, and stay out of doorways and yards.

How we checked

A spot is confirmed when two independent sources name it as a filming location; it is reported when the sources trace back to a single origin. This guide’s shop is reported: Mokpo City’s tourism listing, the city’s press release as carried by Kyunghyang Shinmun (Jan 9, 2018), and Hankook Ilbo (Feb 11, 2018) all go back to the same city announcement. During this guide’s Oct 17, 2026 enrichment we added VisitKorea’s listing as a practical-info source for hours, fee, parking, and address — but because its text mirrors the city material, the spot stays reported. Film facts (plot, runtime, release date, admissions) come from the Korean Film Council. We do not list private homes, and we do not claim interior filming or exact bus routes without a source.

Last checked: Oct 17, 2026 for spot status and practical details. We re-verify spot status periodically and update when places close, change, or gain new sources.

Photos: No verified CC-licensed or KOGL Type 1 photo of this specific place was found, so this guide carries no photo rather than an unverified one. The VisitKorea listing’s own photos are not freely licensed and are not reused here.

Sources

All sources for this guide

Accessed Sep 28, 2026 (Asia/Seoul) unless noted.

1. Mokpo City tourism — Yeonhee’s Supermarket
2. Mokpo City tourism — Seosan-dong poetry alley (film theme)
3. Kyunghyang Shinmun — Mokpo turns the 1987 shop into a tourist site (Jan 9, 2018)
4. Hankook Ilbo — Come see Yeonhee’s Supermarket (Feb 11, 2018)
5. Korean Film Council — 1987: When the Day Comes
6. VisitKorea — Yeonhee’s Supermarket (accessed Oct 17, 2026)

About this page

Hotel Del Luna (호텔 델루나) aired on tvN in 2019, with IU as Jang Man-wol, the hotel’s owner, and Yeo Jin-goo as Gu Chan-seong, its manager. Our Seoul guide covers its Seoul places.

The museum building is confirmed: Mokpo City and independent press both name it.

Why visit

Hotel Del Luna’s hotel is a place for the dead who cannot move on — and its exterior is a real building you can walk up to in Mokpo. The former Japanese Consulate, a red-brick Renaissance-style building finished in 1900 on the slope of Yudalsan, appears as the hotel in the drama. It is the oldest building in Mokpo, per Visit Mokpo, and it has stood through the city’s whole modern story: port opening, colonial rule, liberation, and rebirth as a museum.

That history is the reason to visit beyond the drama. Mokpo opened as a port in 1897 and grew into one of Korea’s major ports; the consulate was built as the port grew, then served as Mokpo City Hall from 1947 and a cultural center from 1990 before opening as a museum in 2014. Inside, seven themed zones trace Mokpo from its Joseon-era naval base to its modern port city — and one zone keeps a small recreation of the drama set. Behind the museum, an air-raid shelter built during the Pacific War survives as a trace of the wartime city.

Pair the visit with the Mokpo Modern History Museum 2 nearby, in the former Oriental Development Company building, for the other half of the port’s story. The old town around both museums still holds modern-era streets. See more of the city in our Mokpo hub.

The hotel’s exterior

The former Japanese Consulate in Mokpo was finished in 1900, after Mokpo’s port opened in 1897, and later served as Mokpo City Hall from 1947 and a cultural center from 1990, according to Mokpo City. It appears as the hotel in the drama, and the museum now inside it keeps a small recreation of the drama set. The building’s original ceiling decorations and fireplaces survive inside, per Korea JoongAng Daily.

The Mokpo Modern History Museum 2, in the former Oriental Development Company building, is nearby. Built in June 1920 as the company’s Mokpo branch, it now exhibits the building’s own history and the colonial-era economy, per VisitKorea.

Inside the museum: seven themes, not just the drama

The museum’s exhibition fills the second floor with seven themes, and the drama is only a small part of it. Theme 1 starts at Mokpojin, the Joseon naval base; Theme 2 follows the port opening of 1897 and Mokpo’s rise as a “Sambaek” cotton-and-salt town; Theme 3 covers resistance — the March 1st Movement, the April 8 Movement and youth movements — under the consulate, the Oriental Development Company, the prison and the police station. Theme 4 traces foreign culture after the opening (churches, Dongbonwonsa Temple, schools for Japanese and Korean children); Theme 5 is popular culture — Mokpo Theater (1920), Peace Hall (1927), film, opera and song. Theme 6 is a hands-on independence-movement corner with period props, and Theme 7 is a special exhibition of model modern buildings around Mokpo Station and Ogeori, including the consulate itself. Behind the museum, the wartime air-raid shelter is walk-in: 2 metres high, 82 metres long.

The hotel’s entrance, in real life

What the camera shows as the hotel’s present-day entrance is the front of this building. Walk up the entrance staircase — the step visitors stop on for photos — and you are standing where the drama frames its hotel. The guide claims the exterior only: the interior is the history exhibition, and the drama link inside is the small set recreation in one of the zones.

Plan your visit

Visit Mokpo lists the museum as open Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00–18:00, closed Mondays and January 1. Admission applies, with concessions for teenagers, soldiers, and elementary-school students, free entry for kindergarteners, group discounts for 20 or more, and half-price admission for Mokpo citizens. Allow 60–90 minutes for the museum’s seven zones. There is no on-site parking, so walk from the Mokpo Station area or take a taxi.

Museum 2 keeps similar hours (09:00–17:30, last admission 17:00, closed Mondays) and the same fee scale, with free parking, per VisitKorea. Check opening days and admission on Mokpo City’s official listing before you go, since hours can change on holidays.

Getting there

From Seoul, take a Honam-line KTX from Yongsan Station (some services from Seoul Station) to Mokpo, the line’s terminus — about 2.5–3.5 hours depending on the train/route, roughly ₩66,000–₩102,000 depending on the train/route. Check exact times and fares on Korail. The train runs via Gwangju-Songjeong; the final leg from Gwangju-Songjeong to Mokpo takes roughly 30–40 minutes. From Mokpo Station, take a bus to the Yudalsan Post Office (유달산 우체국) stop — the museum is right there — or take a taxi. There is no on-site parking, so do not drive.

Nearby in old-town Mokpo

The museum sits in a walkable old-town cluster. On the same street is the National Route 1 & 2 starting-point monument, and on the Yudalsan side are Nojeokbong Peak and Nojeokbong Art Park Museum. Climb Yudalsan itself (228 m) for the city-and-islands view and the “Tears of Mokpo” song monument, or ride the Mokpo Marine Cable Car from North Port via Yudalsan to Gohado. Further out, the Gatbawi Rocks sit on a floating walkway beside the Literature Museum and National Maritime Museum, and Samhakdo island holds the free Kim Dae-jung Nobel Peace Prize Memorial Hall. Most of these are closed Mondays, like the museum — check before you go.

Tips

The entrance staircase is the photo spot. Visit Mokpo lists no disabled facilities for this museum, so visitors with mobility needs should plan on a taxi to the door. Pair the museum with Yudalsan in either order — the hill and the museum share the same slope.

FAQ

Can I go inside the hotel from the drama? Yes — the building is a museum, not a set. You enter through the museum admission, walk the seven themed zones, and see the small recreation of the drama set inside.

Was anything filmed inside? This guide claims only the exterior. The museum’s interior is a history exhibition, and we do not claim interior scenes were filmed here.

How much does it cost? Visit Mokpo lists admission charges, with lower rates for teenagers, soldiers, and elementary-school students. Recheck on the official listing before you go.

Is it open on Mondays? No — Visit Mokpo lists Mondays and January 1 as closed. Museum 2 is also closed Mondays.

What else is nearby? The Mokpo Modern History Museum 2, in the 1920 Oriental Development Company building, is nearby and covers the colonial-era economy. See our Mokpo hub for the city’s other filming location.

When was this guide last checked? Oct 17, 2026. The museum is confirmed: Mokpo City and independent press both name it as the drama’s hotel exterior.

How do I get from Seoul to Mokpo by train? Take a Honam-line KTX from Yongsan Station (some services from Seoul Station) to Mokpo, the line’s terminus — about 2.5–3.5 hours depending on the train/route, roughly ₩66,000–₩102,000 depending on the train/route. Check exact times and fares on Korail. The train runs via Gwangju-Songjeong; the final leg from Gwangju-Songjeong to Mokpo takes roughly 30–40 minutes. From Mokpo Station, bus to the Yudalsan Post Office stop or take a taxi; there is no parking at the museum.

Is the museum only about Hotel Del Luna? No — the drama is a small part of it. The museum’s second floor runs seven themes on Mokpo’s modern history: the Joseon naval base at Mokpojin, the 1897 port opening, resistance movements, foreign culture, popular culture, an independence-movement experience corner, and a special exhibition of model modern buildings. The drama link is the building’s exterior plus a small set recreation inside one of the zones.

How we checked

A spot is confirmed when two independent sources name it as a filming location. This guide’s museum is confirmed: Mokpo City’s own tourism listing and independent press (Hankook Ilbo, Maeil Shinmun, and Korea JoongAng Daily) all name the building. Hours and fees come from Visit Mokpo’s official listing, re-checked Oct 17, 2026, and Museum 2’s details come from VisitKorea. We do not list private homes or claim interior filming without a source.

Sources

All sources for this guide

Accessed Oct 17, 2026 (Asia/Seoul) unless noted.

1. Visit Mokpo (Mokpo City) — Mokpo Modern History Hall 1
2. Hankook Ilbo — Hotel Del Luna filming locations (Aug 29, 2019)
3. Maeil Shinmun — Hotel Del Luna filming location (Aug 4, 2019)
4. Korea JoongAng Daily — A Night Away: Mokpo offers ‘roofless museum’ of Korean culture, coastal scenery (2023)
5. VisitKorea — Mokpo Modern History Museum No. 2
6. Korail — https://www.korail.com/global/eng
7. The Cinemaholic — Where is Hotel Del Luna filmed?
8. Creatrip — Mokpo visitor guide (entrance staircase photo spot; Yudalsan Post Office bus stop)
9. Rail Monsters — Seoul to Mokpo KTX times and fares
10. Rail Monsters — Mokpo to Seoul KTX fares
11. Korean Train — Seoul–Mokpo train times
12. 12go — Seoul to Mokpo trains
13. Trip.com — Gwangju-Songjeong to Mokpo trains
14. Namu Wiki — Honam High-Speed Line (Gwangju-Songjeong station)
15. Great Wide Open — Mokpo guide (Yudalsan, cable car, Gatbawi, Samhakdo)
16. Wikivoyage — Mokpo
17. MCST / KOCIS — Mokpo Modern History Museum coverage
18. Korea Trip Tips — Mokpo Modern History Museum listing
19. Mile Hacker — Famous landmarks in Mokpo