Penis Park: Samcheok, South Korea

I’m usually a fan of the underdog, in any situation. So, when I heard about one of Korea’s best kept secrets, of a place that Korea wasn’t quite proud of, a place that they kept out of all tourists books…I had to do more research.

It turns out there is an entire sea-side park on the Eastern Coast of Korea full of penis statues. My friends and I did enough research to find that the place truly existed. We weren’t perverted enough just to take a trip to see some phallic statues, so we included it in one of our weekend trips!

In the same August-weekend that we went to Andong to see the Soju musem and Hahoe folk village, we also wandered off to Samcheok to check out this ridiculous park. It was pretty far away from any main villages. We had to take an hour bus ride into the hills, up and down windy roads to get there. When we arrived, we paid about $1.50 to enter. Fortunately, we were the only immature ones there…The park was full of giggling old ladies, foreigners like us, and men that probably felt a bit inferior.





The park is set alongside a gorgeous coast. It’s contents however are a bit inappropriate. Since I’m sure you’re wandering what it’s all about, I’ve included the story according to Korean folklore:

A story is told that once, a beautiful young virgin from the area loved to collect seaweed in a small sea-side town which depended on fishing for it’s survival.

The young girl fell madly in love and spent all of her days with her fiancé. Since she loved to collect sea weed, one day, her fiancé took her to an island so that she could collect seaweed til her heart was content. He himself had fishing to do that day. He left her to collect sea weed and promised that he could come back for her at the end of the day. Out of his control, a terrible storm came up later that day and he was unable to come back for her. As she waited on the beach, she was knocked into the sea by waves and drowned.





After that, all parts of the village were drowning in grief. The heavens, the seas, and all of the villagers mourned for her. In the rise of agony, the fish stopped biting. The dead virgin’s heartache and sad spirits were enough to put the fish in a sour mood as well. Life in the town was very grave, as everything had once depended on the fish.

From this point, there are two different stories, but both have to do with a man exposing himself at the water’s edge.
One says that a handsome, young man removed his pants to pee in the sea….
The second states that he was pleasing himself……

Either way, the sight of a handsome young man and his penis excited the dead virgin and all at once, the fish flocked back into Samcheok.

The small town was overjoyed. They decided that the key to fishing prosperity, was to keep her spirits happy. In-turn, the fish would be happy and would continue to bit. So, to appease the dead-virgin, a seaside park full of penises was….erected.

The result is outstanding! There is amazing beauty along the coast and through the park. There are also penises of every shape and size! We couldn’t help, but giggle, point, and take a ton of inappropriate pictures. I’m sure there’s no other place like it!