The Haunted Yongin Folk Village

In a town made up of old houses or replicas of homes from the Joseon Dynasty, Yongin Folk Village has today status as one of the more haunted places in South-Korea.

Nestled right amid the modern city in Seoul, where high risers, public transportation and life are all from the 21st century, a small place where the traditional ways are allowed to remain in peace.

The place of Yongin Folk Village perhaps looks a bit familiar to those interested in Korean period dramas, and famous TV series like Kingdom, 100 Days My Prince and The Moon Embracing the Sun for instance. But for many it has also been known in the later years as one of Korea’s most haunted places.

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The Traditional Folk Town

Though the town Yongin Folk Village (한국 민속촌) itself looks real enough it was first opened in 1973 as a response of the rapid westernization as well as the industrialisation of Korea at the time.

This first open air museum in the country was supposed to work as a living museum and a destination to experience Korean culture, not only for foreigners to learn, but for Koreans to remember.

ongin Folk Village : In a town made up of old houses or replicas of homes from the Joseon Dynasty, Yongin Folk Village has today status as one of the more haunted places in South-Korea. — **Traditional houses**: Traditional thatched roofed houses from the late Joseon Dynasty are all around the Yongin Folk Village.

Yongin Folk Village is found in the Gyeonggi province right by the capital, and the over 260 houses were relocated from across the country and put together to be a replica of a village and how it would have worked and looked from the late Joseon period. So although the museum is a fairly new and modern thing, the things inside it are old, very old. And believing the many legends about the place, also very haunted.

The staff working in the folk village are all dressed up in costumes as well, representing characters from the Joseon Dynasty, contributing to the special atmosphere of the place. You can also attend workshops, watch performances or even host a traditional wedding ceremony there.

Ghost Month of Summer

So where do the tales of the Yongin Folk Village being haunted come from? With the old and mysterious atmosphere there are no wonders legends about the place started to come. The events that are held by the village have perhaps also been a contributing factor to the ghost rumors.

During the summer months the folk village hosts ghost events to highlight the ghost season which in Asia for most parts is in the late summer months. But also in later years Halloween later in the fall has become much more popular as well, and there are more than one ghost and haunted related events in the village.

But there are those who claim that the folk village is not only haunted by ghosts or gwisin during ghost month or Halloween, but all year.

The Korean Virgin Ghost

Because there are those claiming to have seen actual ghosts around the village and in the supposed haunted old houses. Mainly tales of the Korean Virgin Ghost have been spotted with her dark long hair and wearing traditional burial clothes.

According to legend, virgin ghosts were women that died before being married, and very often held a grudge and power to avenge herself in the afterlife.

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Question is, could it be nothing more than an actor wearing a costume and being too good at their job in the haunted house section of the village, or could it actually be something supernatural afoot?

The wildest claim though is the rumor that this is the place where the legends of the Virgin Ghost started. Especially since most written notices about ghosts being spotted in the village are vague or connected to the haunted house events.

But when we look at the history of the Korean Virgin ghost, the legends about them trace back longer than the village itself. Although, perhaps the legend is as old as some of the houses that were relocated?