Seoul Battleship Park
Hangang Bike Path
Learn about retired naval vessels on the banks of the Han River.
Tied to the banks Mangwon Hangang Park in Seoul bobs a 102-meter long Ulsan Class frigate with 76mm, 30mm, and 40mm cannons (road view).
This is not a drill. It’s a museum.
Opened in 2017, Seoul Battleship Park (서울함 공원; map) comprises a naval museum and three decommissioned vessels from the Korean Navy.
- Frigate (Battleship) Seoul (1,900 tons, 102 meters long) served in the ROK Navy from 1985 to 2015. Now retired, Frigate Seoul floats riverside, letting passengers aboard to tour its captain’s and crew quarters, cafeteria, wheelhouse, and more.
- Patrol Killer Medium is a 37-meter long coast guard vessel sitting on land. Commissioned in 1977, the vessel now sits on land next to the main museum. Visitors can climb aboard, tour its facilities, and learn about the history of Korea’s navy.
- A 25-meter long, 190-ton dolphin-class submarine sticks out of the museum building’s glass walls. Deployed from 1991 to 2016, the sub surveilled from behind enemy lines. Curators bisected the sub and exposed its innards to the paying public.
How much is a museum ticket? For ₩3,000, you can tour all the vessels and the museum.
- Summer:
- Weekdays: 10 AM to 7 PM
- Weekends: 10 AM to 8 PM
- Winter:
- Weekdays: 10 AM to 5 PM
- Weekends: 10 AM to 6 PM
- Closed every Monday.
Maritime History
Why build a naval museum in Mangwon Hangang Park? Two reasons:
- From the Three Kingdoms-era up to the Korean War, armies and navies wrestled for control over the Han River. Whomever controlled the waterway ruled the peninsula.
- The Joseon Dynasty’s navy once used the section of the Han RIver near Mangwon to practice naval maneuvers with their warships.
