Geekazine

Geekazine


5 Tech Places to Visit When in Seoul, South Korea

November 22, 2019

It’s no secret that I have gotten some opportunities to travel to South Korea. I would like to thank my friends at Aving.net for the opportunity. I have spent a good amount of time in Seoul, and surrounding provinces. We even took a boat down the Han river, learned to cook with Jiny, and visited the Coex mall’s Starfield Library – amongst many other things.

South Korea is home to Samsung, and LG – two of the biggest electronic manufacturers. South Korea welcomes business travelers to do business through their country. So not only can you go visit some of their iconic temples, you can get your electronic fix as well.

I put together a list of 5 things to do tech-wise. Granted, the list was different when I started. The K-Pop experience was closed, and the Robot museum will not be open until 2022 – but will be built by robots starting in 2020. So I had to make changes to the list.

Missing is the LG Electronics park, which I didn’t have a chance to get to. But I did find many other things you can do to stay occupied.

Also, we are sticking close to Seoul in this list. If you want to hop a train, you can visit the DJI arena, Robot land in Changwon, and more.

5. Gangnam Style – Samsung, VR, Apple Store

Gangnam is a great place to start, not only because they have a stage where you can re-create the Youtube sensation “Gangnam Style’ by Psy, but also because this is a young part of Seoul. Lots of shopping is here, including the Coex center I mentioned earlier.

Samsung D’Light is a great place to start. It’s one of Samsung’s corporate offices, but the bottom two levels contain shopping, food (including just opened Johnny Rocket’s), and the Samsung D’Light store – 3 levels of products, concepts, and things to explore. I highlighted it back in September when I was there learning about the Samsung Galaxy Fold.

There are many PC cafes, and VR zones in Seoul. It is a great place to escape, and the prices are very competitive.

Finally, Gangnam is home to the first Apple store in Korea. I found it by following all the knitted tree cozies.

4. T.UM at SKT

South Korean Telecom (SKT) is one of Korea’s companies that supplies phone and Internet services. They host T.UM, which is a concept room that shows us how we might be living life in 30 years. From self-driving cars, robots, hyper-loops, and more.

To visit this attraction, you must register. English tours are available, but not as much as Korean tours. So you might want to schedule this trip first, as days are limited.

3. Need Camera gear? Go to Seoul Plaza

Just down from Seoul Plaza, you have two attractions – Deoksugung, and the Sungnyemun gate (of the Fortress Wall). Across from the gate is a camera lover’s dream. This area is home to multiple camera vendors with gear old and new.

If you need a new lens for your DSLR,