We dive into as many Korean cultural nuances we could find that may have had you scratching your head while watching Squid Game 2. Also, get out your maps because we track down almost every single filming location in Seoul.
Guest: Ron Chang
Join our Patreon to get more stuff
https://patreon.com/darksideofseoul
Book a tour of The Dark Side of Seoul Ghost Walk at https://darksideofseoul.com
Credits
Produced by Joe McPherson and Shawn Morrissey
Music by Soraksan
Top Tier Patrons
Angel Earl
Joel Bonomini
Devon Hiphner
Gabi Palomino
Steve Marsh
Eva Sikora
Ron Chang
Mackenzie Moore
Minseok Lee
Hunter Winter
Cecilia Löfgren Dumas
Josephine Rydberg
Devin Buchanan
Ashley Wright
George Irion
Notes
SPOILERS AHEAD
Episode 1 – Bread and Lottery
- Bread and Circuses?
- First shot with red-headed Seong Gi-hun was in Incheon Airport, near the Burger King and the capsule hotel
- Hwang Jung-ho and dad eating Jjajangmyeon
- “충성” – sarcastic salute
- Okin Police Station – West of Gyeongbokgung
- Love motels (Pink Motel)
- Ron: Actual motel (Capri Motel) – Gyeonggi’s Guri. Definitely one of the older ones but they are usually the cheaper ones, especially because they are hidden…but they did have privacy curtains but mid-length ones
- Subway Stations
- Hangangjin
- Oksu
- Dapsimni
- Children’s Grand Park
- Gongdeok
- Yaksu
- Nowon
- Janghanpyeong
- Dobongsan
- Area where Gi-hun is parked – Observation parking lot next to Namsan Dongkaseu on Namsan Mountain
- Nautical map has silly names
- 푸랭이
- 큰과탈
- 쇠코
- 쇠머리
- 모진이 해수욕장
- 대독도
- 소독도
- Rainy season
- Tapgol Park
- Ron: 10 won coins are becoming rarer and rarer, with only 40 million minted in 2024 compared to 280 million in 2014.
- One of the gang members remarks that he dreamed of shit the night before, usually a sign of good luck.
- On a side note, it was odd that police pulled Gihun over because police don’t usually do that in Korea, speed is regulated with cameras while only reckless driving is enforced
- Jonggak Station
- Gang members track Ddakji Man down to a back alley in Guro
- Near Guro-gu Children’s Traffic Park
- Games
- Ron: They really started in episode 1 of S2, with the two gang members playing rock, paper, scissors take one out, a popular game that many Koreans played as kids and even as adults but instead of getting shot, they would get flicked on the forehead
Episode 2 – Halloween Party
- “Since I was in the military” – Compulsory military service
- Ron: Don’t know what this is referring to but when the guys are practicing shooting, they tell Gihun not to worry as some of them were from special forces while others were from UDT, underwater demolition team
- Seoul Land
- Why is there a Mardi Gras parade in summer? (just weird)
- “Hamburger is not enough” – No rice = Not a meal
- Shawn
- Ron: Parents always used to say when I was a kid the same thing; even Korean colleagues said it when I told them what I ate…they think of it as a snack and not a full meal
- Tuberculosis outbreak – Korea has a history with the disease
- Epidemics episode
- Cremated wife – Everyone’s cremated these days
- Shawn
- Seohyeon University Hospital (is this real?)
- Ron: It’s actually a hospital called Seongnam Citizens Medical Center
- Bongeun Bridge, Tancheon Parking Lot – Next to Jamsil Stadium
- Ron: Between Coex and Sports Complex, you can see the Trade Tower in the background
- Halloween party at Noise Basement – Famous Hongdae hip hop club now known as nb2
- Seogang Bridge – leads to Yeouido
- Yeouido
Leave a Reply