Okpo Land

If you’ve ever searched the internet for abandoned theme parks, this place is the home to one of the popular images that comes up. Honestly, it’s one of the more spine-tingling images I’ve seen. Have you ever seen a coaster-like ride with duck faces, eyes staring vacantly in odd directions, mouths gaping? Yep, that’s Okpo Land.

When I started my research for the last episode, Takakonuma Greenland, I got a lot of results for Okpo Land. Sites like to compound the two, putting images of Okpo Land in a Takakonuma Greenland piece or vice versa. Several times, I came across references to Okpo Land as the true “scary” park, which is why I scheduled it for the week of Halloween.

Of course, in my research, I realized that the truth is quite a lot murkier than the internet rumors suggest. So let’s dig into the story of Okpo Land.

History of Okpo Land

Much of the actual history of Okpo Land is shrouded in mystery and rumors. It’s not helped by the language barrier: again, I don’t speak Korean, and Google Translate apparently has a much harder time with Korean compared to Japanese (from Takakonuma Greenland). This includes things like the actual opening date of the park. While the closing date is consistent (1999), the internet disagrees on the opening date.

Nearly all of the articles about Okpo Land online are a form of internet telephone, simply copying the same story idea and embellishing it without any efforts at verification of fact. These rumors call the park once one of the most popular theme parks in Asia, which seems hard to swallow. Some claim the park had been operational for decades prior to its 199 closure.

The truth seems a bit different. A local Geoje article explicitly gives the opening date as 1996, as does a different local news source. Another local news source describes the park as having only been open for two years prior to its closure. This makes sense – the park decor is all very 90s. 

But I’m getting ahead of myself, a little.

(If you want to start off with a few lesser-seen galleries before reading on, check out this one from johnwjohnson on Flickr and this one from Jordan/streetbeat85 on Flickr.)

Okpo Land: Geoje, South Korea

Okpo Land was located in Geoje, South Korea. Geoje is the name of the city, and Okpo-dong is one of the many neighborhoods within the city. And of course, given the name, you can see that Okpo Land was located in Okpo-dong.

It sat on the top of a hill, overlooking the harbor. Geoje is home to some of the largest shipbuilding in the world, including Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering (DSME), one of the largest shipbuilders in the area. 

At the time, Okpo Land was the only amusement park on Geoje Island, so it did have a captive audience.

Okpo Land and South Korea’s Economic Crisis

However, the audience apparently wasn’t particularly interested in visiting Okpo Land. One of the news articles describes Okpo Land as having “sluggish business”. Another article describes the park as having an “operating deficit”. As lawinsider.com defines it: “insufficient cash flow from the Improvements to cover normal operating expenses and maintenance”. A third article blamed the “IMF cold wave”.

I’m not an economist, nor do I play one on TV. But from my understanding, this is how it went. See, in late 1997, there was a financial crisis in East and Southeast Asia, stemming from the financial collapse of the baht in Thailand, which spread and caused financial distress to a number of other countries. South Korea was one of the countries hardest hit by the crisis, and in December of 1997, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stepped in with a $58.4 billion dollar plan to help stabilize South Korea’s economy. In return, the country had to undergo financial restructuring. “IMF programmes normally seek to reduce current account deficits, keep inflation in check, and keep domestic demand constrained.” 

The economy continued to shrink throughout 1998, but seemed to rebound in 1999, with president Kim Dae Jung declaring the crisis over in December 1999.

It was too late, however, for Okpo Land. 

It’s clear that against this background of financial crisis, the people of Geoje probably didn’t have the means to be spending money, and if they did, they were going to go to a different, bigger park. Okpo Land, which seems to have been started in a time of financial prosperity in 1996 or earlier, most likely couldn’t draw the paying crowds it needed in the hard times of 1997 and 1998. Before the park could try again in the summer of 1999, it was too late. 

The Geoje Times gives May of 1999 as the closure date for Okpo Land, and nearly every other source agrees with this year of 1999.

The Legend of Deaths at Okpo Land

Of course, what I haven’t told you at all is the dark side of the Okpo Land legend. 

You know, all the deaths.

Many internet legends talk about the one or more deaths at the park in its early years. And almost all internet legends about Okpo Land talk about the final death, the death in 1999.

See, we haven’t really talked about the park itself – we’ll get there – but there was a duck ride. Not a rollercoaster, as many descriptions say, but a monorail sky cycle business, another of the fun two-person visitor-pedalled rides in the sky. This one had a duck theme, a horrifying, horrifying duck theme. 

How can a duck theme be horrifying, you might ask? 

The duck on the front of each pedal car had an overly large head, a wide gaping mouth, and two comically large cartoon anime eyes, each pupil staring vacantly in opposite direction. I’ve seen a lot of spine-tingling things in my fascination with abandoned theme parks, but the duck heads from Okpo Land still remain at the top of my “creepiest things” list.

The Duck. 2011. image courtesy Jon Dunbar / daehanmindecline.com.

The legend goes that the final car on one train of the duck ride derailed, dangling from the tracks and dropping its rider to the ground, killing her instantly. Furthermore, the legend goes, the owner disappeared overnight, leaving the girl’s family without compensation or apology. The park was then reportedly shuttered by the authorities and declared unsafe, with all the rides still left in place. 

This, then, is the urban legend that surrounds Okpo Land.

Truth to the Rumors of Okpo Land?

I spoke over email with urban explorer Jon Dunbar, who runs the site Daehanmindecline. He is a well-known urban explorer in South Korea. He has an Instagram full of cute cat pictures, too. Jon’s images, used with or without permission, are some of the most common images you’ll see of Okpo Land in its abandoned state. I’m including a few of Jon’s images in my shownotes page and in social media promos for the episode with permission, and I encourage you to follow the links back to his site for more images. 

Jon told me over email about his history exploring the park between late 2007 and mid 2011. According to him, there was a single blog by a German photographer prior to his first trip which contained a version of that urban legend – lighter on details, with a death at the park followed by a second death which ultimately shuttered the park.

Jon went on to tell me about his first visit in late 2007, finding one of the duck rides hanging from the track. He imagined the rumored second death happening there, with the owners hypothetically leaving the ride broken, in situ, in the hurry to close the park permanently.

As Jon goes on to say, the German blog is long gone (and believe me, I’ve tried to find it! Not even the Wayback Machine could help with this one). So if you’re wondering where this rumor came from, about the girl dying after a fall from the duck ride, here’s how it got started.

The truth is probably somewhere in between the prosaic – not enough visitors, not enough money – and the salacious – deaths and quick park closures to escape a bad situation. And of course, we’ll likely never really know.

Abandoned Okpo Land

After its sudden closure in 1999, Okpo Land sat completely in place, abandoned, a magnet for urban explorers.  

The Geoje Times article from 2006 calls the abandoned park the “city’s monster”. Whether this is a mistranslation or accurate turn of phrase, I’m delighted by the description. 

City’s monster, let’s talk about this city’s monster. 

Okpo Land was small. 

Perched up on a hillside, it had great views, but not a lot of land area. This meant that, like Takakonuma Greenland and many of the other parks I’ve talked about on TAC, there were only a handful of rides. There were sort of three main areas – the swimming pool area (down below) and two separate hilltop areas, each anchored by one of the elevated rides.

Rides at Okpo Land

I’ve found a few park signs, but as I alluded to earlier, Google Translate has a harder time with Korean than it did with Japanese. However, I’ve spent some time with multiple images of the single park directional signs (two pink signs pointing one direction, two blue signs pointing another) and with the one image I’ve found of a park guide map, and I think I’ve gotten it mostly correct. (Unsurprisingly, AFTER I went through the trouble of sketching off a broken park version, I found a nice version from a guidebook. Ah.) Of course you know I’ve sketched my own version of the park map to help you understand the layout of the park. As always, if you’ve got corrections, comments, clarifications, or opinions, you can find my contact info at my website.

Going from least well-known to most well-known, let’s talk about the rides at Okpo Land.

Small Attractions at Okpo Land

There were these two large high top shoes. Not actually shoes, of course. These were miniature basketball hoops inside shoe facades, branded as “hightops”. It was an arcade game, classic and very cool, apparently manufactured by Skee Ball. I’ll link to a sale listing for a brand new one as well as an image of the very destroyed, very abandoned version.

Of course there were basic arcade game staples like air hockey.

And then there was a motion simulator, a Doron Precision Systems SRV brand. You’ve probably seen it at a carnival or a theme park near you. Here’s a video of one in motion. Of course, the simulator at Okpo Land was not in such fine shape after its years of abandonment, covered with graffiti in the available images online. 

Destroyed arcade games at Okpo Land. 2011. image courtesy Jon Dunbar / daehanmindecline.com.

In the park’s abandonment, all of these arcade games were outside in what appears to be an entrance plaza. This likely wasn’t their original home – the arcade building (labeled as “carnival” on the signs and map) seems to have been targeted by arsonists in June of 2011, according to a newspaper article.  Here’s a view via teaching engrish https://teachingengrish.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/img_74461.jpg https://teachingengrish.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/img_48811.jpg https://teachingengrish.files.wordpress.com/2011/03/img_74651.jpg However, that being said, these items have always been outside in the plaza in every image I’ve seen of the park, including the earliest images from 2007 and 2008, prior to the fires.

There was also once something called “battery”. I’ve checked and double-checked the translation, and Google’s so proud of this one, they give it a check mark when I run it through the translation site. This was located within the fenced square right off the entrance plaza, concrete painted green (here’s an image). I’m not sure what this actually was. One theory I’ve got stems from an early picture showing the view from the top of the coaster. There can be seen two large foam-looking items sitting off in the vegetation under the coaster, adjacent to the green battery square. Perhaps this attraction was a gladiator type thing, where guests could put on giant foam fighting gloves of a sort and “batter” one another? I don’t really know. The other idea, based on the two sets of bumper cars and the stack of bumper cars adjacent to this area, is that originally this was also a battery-operated bumper car area. 

Things That Go: Train, Bumper Cars, Rocket Ship at Okpo Land

Of course there was a miniature train. It’s an episode of TAC, which of course is more likely to feature a train than a carousel. 

Not much is known about the train. It ran in a small circular track roughly directly behind the main entrance, beneath the squirrel coaster. Here’s a promo image from the brochure: https://www.uer.ca/locations/viewgal.asp?picid=254356. There are almost no pictures of it, but the train and the tracks were left to decay with the rest of the park. Jon Dunbar photographed a rusted shell of an engine on a rusted and overgrown train track during his last visit in 2011. The rest of the train cars and the majority of the engine parts were long gone, though possible remnants of the train in a better state in late 2007, early 2008 can be seen in Jon’s images from an article on Dark Roasted Blend http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/01/abandoned-amusement-parks.html.

There were plenty of other things that go, as well. 

There were bumper cars too. Actually, there were two sets of bumper cars. One was sort of your basic sleek bumper car. The other set had a more vintage, old-timey overlay. The sleek bumper cars originally ran on a circular area underneath the rocket ship ride, while the vintage looking cars were stored away under a tarp in a storage building. Based on the park map, there was only ever one bumper car area, so perhaps these sets of cars could be switched in and out as themeing dictated. 

And then, making good use of the small land area, the flying rocket ship ride. The bumper cars were on a circular area at ground level, and the rockets sat on a circular platform above them, higher up in the air. 

Space Fighters rocket ride. 2011. image courtesy Jon Dunbar / daehanmindecline.com.

It’s your standard “spin and go up and down” ride, like Astro Orbiter or Dumbo at Disneyland. The park’s guide map has a pretty good name for this one – it translates as “space warplane”! I love it. Though this ride was visible from the city, there’ not terribly much to say about it – simple “spaceship” cars that originally had small canopies. Reportedly for some years of the park’s abandonment, the cars were able to move around still. (See a photo of that here.)

Carousel and Viking Ship at Okpo Land

The carousel at Okpo Land is actually right next to the entrance gate and ticket booth. It’s not particularly special, in my opinion. The carousel structure itself is nicely detailed, but the horses are rather horrifying. Most of them have red eyes and leering grins, and there’s not much in the way of other detailing. These are low-budget carousel horses, not made from a particularly nice mold. 

Of course, you can call it a merry-go-round, too, if you like. I may not have touched on this in my episode on the Floyd J Moreland carousel, but there’s no true difference between a carousel and a merry go round. Some say that one has only horses and the other has many animals. Others point to the spin direction (clockwise or counter clockwise) or whether the twinkle lights are clear or colored. No matter what the point of comparison, there are as many rides that break the “rules” as fit them. So choose whichever name you like. 🙂

In the park’s abandonment, the horses are one of the more persistent amusements to be repurposed. They appear to have rusted out from the base carousel structure fairly quickly. Therefore, they were not only used for a photo prop in the standard way, but were carried around the park, placed in bumper cars, and general had a fun time with. Some were painted black, as if a vat of black paint were dropped over the top of them, and honestly it’s an improvement.

The abandoned carousel at Okpo Land is incredibly eerie – a rusting-out base, often filled with pools of water; tilting, fallen-over horses; knocked-in decorative panels; and still-bright, fiberglass decorations, broken but gleaming under the rust and creeping vegetation.

Carousel or merry-go-round, it’s abandoned just the same. 2011. image courtesy Jon Dunbar / daehanmindecline.com.

There was also a viking ship, a classic two-headed dragon themed swinging boat, much like the ones we’ve already talked about that existed at the abandoned Yangon amusement park and at Takakonuma Greenland. The swinging boat ride is a staple of many carnivals, fairs, and theme parks, so I don’t really need to go into detail. (Though I will add the interesting sidebar that the predecessor of this type of ride was called “The Ocean Wave” and was invented all the way back in the 1890s!)

The ride at Okpo Land was simply called “Viking”, which it proclaimed in big, English letters right on the sides of the ride. 

Interestingly, the Viking ride itself was positioned at nearly the apex of the hilly park, visible from many parts of the city. I’ve read several reports from urban explorers who had authorities called on them after people spotted them climbing the Viking structure even from outside the park.

Swimming Pool and Other Buildings at Okpo Land

Before I get to the two “big” rides, let me talk about the swimming pool and the other buildings at Okpo Land.

Per the park map, there were a variety of other buildings in Okpo Land. In the park’s abandonment, this isn’t really clear – one completely graffiti’d and destroyed building without any remaining signage pretty much looks like another. But according to the map, there were multiple buildings labeled “store”, a place for karaoke, and several “restaurants” and “restrooms”. A fairly large building on the map that isn’t ever seen in the exploration photos is the roller skating rink, which would’ve been behind the Viking ship. Maybe it wasn’t a building but just a flat concrete area? #6 on this promo brochure from the park shows what could have been the skating rink.

And #7 on that same map shows just a beguiling field of green. It’s really hard to accurately capture in any photo. But there was something called a “four seasons sliding range”, otherwise known as a long concrete slide down the hill, from the roller coaster area down by the swimming pool, all painted brilliant green, and perhaps originally covered in astro turf. Were there inner tubes or slick mats to slide down on? It’s not clear, and those small artifacts are long gone, or simply uninteresting, to any of the urbex photos available. 

A view of Okpo Land from afar. 2011. image courtesy Jon Dunbar / daehanmindecline.com.

Of course there was also the swimming pool complex, located down the hill from the other areas of the park, geographically closest to the squirrel coaster. The promo brochure for the park shows a variety of activities, including bowling and handball – it isn’t clear that these were available based on the abandoned photography I’ve seen, but it’s possible. There was definitely a variety of swimming pools, hot tubs, and saunas, however. In the abandoned stages, of course, the main lap pool was filled with stagnant, horrifying water.

Squirrel Roller Coaster and Rok ‘n Roll at Okpo Land

Squirrel Coaster = Fantasy Express

The squirrel coaster is the park’s second-most famous ride. The RCDB doesn’t know the name of it, just calling it unknown coaster. It took me a long time to find a name for it – the map I found that once was displayed in the park has the coaster shown but not captioned! Can you believe that? It was a struggle, folks. But eventually I found another map with one additional line in the key, and the name: Fantasy Express. I love it. Squirrel coaster = Fantasy Express. 

Anyhow, this is a cute little basic coaster. The track itself isn’t particularly noteworthy – just a simple shape without any inversions.

What IS noteworthy is the location (up on a hill, overlooking the harbor, adding to the thrill, and the theme. This coaster has a squirrel theme, or perhaps a chipmunk theme. A fat, gleefully chubby animal decorates the front of the car. He clutches what is presumably a nut or acorn in between his clasped hands. However, the casual glance makes it look perhaps a bit more salacious. I’ll leave it at that. 

This coaster is also somewhat notable in that the coaster train (singular) is permanently stuck on the lift hill, unable to move either forward or back at the movement of explorers. This has led to some striking photos of Okpo Land taken from the top of the coaster’s lift hill, looking back down: a gleeful woodland animal smiling back up at you almost menacingly, halfway up the lift hill; the blue roofs of the pool and sauna complex glittering with reflected light from the nearby harbor on the left; and the green, tangled climbing vines on the right, taking back the coaster and the rest of Okpo Land.

Rock ‘ n Roll OR Squirrel Buckets

Nestled up above the squirrel coaster by the Space Fighters and the ducks was another often photographed ride. This one probably has the best name of them all, and I double-checked my translations multiple times. That’s probably what made research for this episode take so long. Anyhow, Google Translate tells me the name of this ride is…Squirrel Buckets. 

Yep, squirrel buckets. I don’t even know about the etymology of that one. This is a beautiful version of the classic Rock ‘n Roll / Looper ride that was popular a couple decades ago. You’ll remember it disassembled at Takakonuma Greenland and semi-operational at the abandoned Yangon park. And of course, you can find an operational version of the ride at Knoebel’s in the US. Still not ringing a bell? Tuna cans on a carousel frame, and they all go round and round. I think it’s such a picturesque ride, but I would never ever ride this one.

In the park’s abandonment, climbing vines took over this ride most of all, and in many pictures, you can only see the decorative finial at the center post of the ride, surrounded by subtle mountains of green.

SQUIRREL BUCKETS. 2011. image courtesy Jon Dunbar / daehanmindecline.com.

Duck Sky Cycle at Okpo Land

Of course, the park’s most famous, or infamous, ride is one we’ve already touched on, so I’ve saved it for last. Referred to on the guide maps simply as “Sky Cycle”, this is the supposed killer ride, the eerie, duck-themed ride that still gives me the creeps every time I scroll past an image of that gaping duck mouth.

Why, why would someone ever make a ride with such an eerie, chilling duck-faced overlay? Why is something simple like a children’s themed duck ride so unsettling in a world of admittedly much worse horrors? I can’t explain it.

Whether or not the duck sky cycle actually killed someone, what IS clear is that one of the sky cycle trains is on the track … wrong. 

Let’s back up a little. This is different from the sky cycle at Takakonuma Greenland. There, you had spindly little individual cars. Here at Okpo Land, the sky cycles have a solid overlay of duck theme. At first glance they appear to be connected in trains, but closer inspection of the photos indicates that the cars are separate, with bumpers on the front and back of individual cars to keep them from coming too close to one another.

Anyhow, there are many duck sky cycle cars in repose at the station at Okpo Land. It appears that there’s a side spur, where cars can be switched on and off the main track when higher capacity is needed. 

All of the ducks face the same direction, going clockwise around the track. 

Except one.

Two cars, two ducks, face the opposite direction (counter-clockwise). The front car is on the station platform, and the back car is missing its’ duck head facade, dangling, chick butt facing the ground.

Let me stop and tell you right now. That story, about the car derailing and killing the girl, and being left to dangle in place in the spot where she died?

Impossible.

Let me tell you what I think, and fast forward if you’d rather I not squash your theories about the legend of Okpo Land. 

There’s no possible way that a sky cycle car would be placed on the track going the wrong direction (counter-clockwise) when all the other sky cycle cars are going clockwise.

My hypothesis is that a person visiting the park in its abandonment decided, for whatever reason, to turn a car or two around. Is this possible?

Looking closely at the pictures, I think it is. The lead car is off the track, on the station loading platform, with one “wheel” in between the track and one on the station platform; the back balanced on the station. The car clearly has two Miller patented underfriction wheels in front, the kind used on nearly every modern coaster to keep cars from flying off the track during fast turns. The wheels are meant to go on either side of the track, keeping the cars in place.

In the back, however, from looking at other cars, we can see underneath the “duck butt” where passengers would sit and pedal, there’s simply some flimsy-looking metal arms, guiding the car roughly on the track. Likely, the car’s weight and the passengers’ weight were presumed to keep the car in place.

Their eyes are watching you. (Sky Cycle from below. 2011. image courtesy Jon Dunbar / daehanmindecline.com.)

Here’s a close up view of the dangling, supposed killer car. It’s held onto the track by one single wheel in front, and everything else dangles.

I think what happened is that some people were having a good time and tried to turn two of the cars around. Or, perhaps not that, but were trying to “get the cars off the tracks” presumably to have fun with them in various places around the park. So these imaginary people lifted the backs of the cars up and wriggled and wrenched them until they could swing the cars around off the track. 

Then what? You can’t carry them down the stairs – too heavy. So they pushed the cars backwards along the track and tried to push them over the edge of the station. But for whatever reason, they couldn’t, or didn’t, finish the task. So one car was left cockeyed at station level, and the other was left dangling over the edge by a single wheel. This one they tore the duck facade off. 

From there, rumors could easily spread, as it is easy to imagine a horrific fate from such a wrenching-looking situation. But truly, the ride in operation would not have derailed this way, with all of the other cars the way they are.

This is only a theory about what happened to the sky cycle, but I’d say it’s a guess close to the truth. 

A girl may have fallen off the duck ride and died, I don’t know about that – it is awfully high. But the car wasn’t left dangling in its place – that’s just not how the ride would be set up. The final, ominous positions of the broken duck cars were most certainly done after the fact. 

Demolition of Okpo Land

It wasn’t until late 2011 that the park was actually demolished, over a decade after its closure. 

In the meantime, plenty of urban explorers visited and photographed the park. You can find all kinds of photos and trip reports linked in my references section (below). Seemingly on each visit, the beheaded duck facade was in a different place – was it on a visitor this time, was it on a carousel horse, was it tucked away in the vines to try and spook someone? 

Ultimately, it appears the park became a target of vandalism and arson until the city and the ownership companies couldn’t ignore it any longer. It was called the “city’s monster”, collecting trash and garbage, becoming increasingly rusted and blighted up on top of the hill right over the harbor.

Though some reports claim a single company purchased the land and then did nothing with it for years, other reports differ. One local news source actually breaks the sale of Okpoland down. The article states that “Short-term mortagages were set up by three people”, and they note the park was sold again to a Mr. Park in November of 2000. Then there were two “seizure and claims for transfer of ownership”, but the article notes that these were “eliminated”. Ultimately, that large shipbuilding company DSME purchase the site in November of 2006. The article reports that the company had plans to redevelop the site and build something else (a hotel, residential complexes, etc). However, considering that as of the time of this recording, the land is still bare as far as I know, I’m guessing something went wrong. The main article I’m referring to right here talks about urban management plans, and I think a little something is lost in translation – perhaps there were issues with zoning or other city ordinances. 

So like I said, ultimately in 2011, the park was demolished and returned to bare earth. 

A video from 2017 is available on YouTube from user A Million Toms showing a hike up to the site of the former theme park. It appears easy to access the site, with broken down fencing blocking the road from cars but not stopping an adventurous pedestrian. You can see primarily bare land and vegetation in the video, although A Million Toms does come across a broken piece of fiberglass decoration – a former buffalo plaque from the Viking ship. 

Here’s a great image from one of the park brochures, showing an artist’s rendition of how the site was supposed to be https://www.uer.ca/locations/viewgal.asp?picid=254354

Conclusions

People love to come up with rumors, and sensational stories certainly build upon themselves when passed from person to person in urban legend format. Such is the case of Okpo Land. In the later years of its abandonment, a broken duck-themed sky cycle, placed just so on accident or purpose by a visitor to the park after its closure, spurred rumors of death, of an owner who left everything in place and ran, or perhaps he was killed in a car accident, but certainly he gave no recompense to the girl’s family.

It’s all rumor. 

The park closed due to lack of money in the background of the poor economy of the late 90s. A series of different owners and bueracratic issues delayed the demolition of the park and still have stalled any new redevelopment there. 

The truth, of course, is kind of boring.

Okpo Land seemed like a charming small park with some truly bizarre theming. The duck face from the sky cycle is honestly one of the spookiest things I’ve seen, with haunting eyes that stare in either direction and seem to follow you as you move. 

But ultimately it was just a simple amusement park. A fun place for kids and families while it lasted, with boring and expected reasons for closure. Too, it seems to have been a fun place to visit in its long abandonment, even if the deadly rumors stem from staged rides and word of mouth. 

It is Halloween season when this episode is released, so of course you can imagine whatever urban legend you like. The truth is boring and fictional stories are much, much more thrilling.

Remember that what you’ve read is a podcast! A link is included at the top of the page. Listen to more episodes of The Abandoned Carousel on your favorite platform: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | RadioPublic | TuneIn | Overcast | Pocket Casts | Castro. Support the podcast on Patreon for extra content! Comment below to share your thoughts – as Lucy Maud Montgomery once said, nothing is ever really lost to us, as long as we remember it.

Okpo Land Guide Map

Sketch of the visitor’s guide map for Okpo Land, drawn by The Abandoned Carousel, based on images from Teaching Engrish and Steed @ UER.ca.
  1. 회전목마 merry-go-round
  2. Restaurant
  3. 카니발 코너 carnival corner
  4. 수영장 swimming pool
  5. 사 우 나 sauna         (missing – fantasy express – the COASTER) either spelled like this 판타지 표현 or 환상특급
  6. 미니기차 mini train
  7. 밧 데 리 카 battery?
  8. 노 래 방 karaoke
  9. 매점 store
  10. 바 이 킹 viking
  11. 관리사무실 . 화장실 administrative office, restroom
  12. 분식코너 food corner
  13. 롤러 스케이트장 roller skating rink
  14. 매점 store
  15. 사계절썰매장 four season sledding range
  16. 음식점 . 화장실 restaurant * restroom
  17. 스카이 사이클 sky cycle (ducks)
  18. 범퍼카 bumper cars
  19. 우주전투기 “space fighter” (rockets)
  20. 다람쥐 통 squirrel bucket
  21. 휴게실 “Rest area” (bathroom?)

References

  1. #옥포랜드 – Twitter Search / Twitter. Twitter. https://twitter.com/hashtag/%ec%98%a5%ed%8f%ac%eb%9e%9c%eb%93%9c. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  2. 1997 Asian financial crisis. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1997_Asian_financial_crisis&oldid=919798166. Accessed October 27, 2019.
  3. A Million Toms. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUqktDv1ZmuDb2_ZngzlCEA. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  4. aga. Abandoned Amusement Park.; 2008. https://www.flickr.com/photos/aga_and_jonas/2272380315/. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  5. rachel. abandoned amusement park. Loose in the World. May 2011. https://rachelinbusan.wordpress.com/2011/05/08/abandoned-amusement-park/. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  6. Abandoned Locations: Okpo Land – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPRwnmedwMQ. Accessed October 15, 2019.
  7. Abandoned Theme Parks – Photos. https://www.facebook.com/pg/AbandonedThemeParks/photos/?tab=album&album_id=136178916537892. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  8. broke6.pdf. http://www.daehanmindecline.com/broke/broke6.pdf. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  9. broke12.pdf. http://www.daehanmindecline.com/broke/broke12.pdf. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  10. broke17edition1.pdf. http://www.daehanmindecline.com/broke/broke17edition1.pdf. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  11. Schatz Blackrose M. Chinny Chin Chin: Raps and Rhymes Promoting Literacy in Young Children. Port Macquarie: Tell Me Books; 2012.
  12. daehanmindecline. http://www.daehanmindecline.com/2011/20110611.html. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  13. Dark Roasted Blend: Abandoned Amusement Parks. Dark Roasted Blend. http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/01/abandoned-amusement-parks.html. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  14. Deformutilation. Deformutilation: Abandoned Okpo Land, South Korea. Deformutilation. November 2012. http://deformutilation.blogspot.com/2012/11/abandoned-okpo-land-south-korea.html. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  15. Alexander. Deserted Places: Okpo Land: An abandoned amusement park in South Korea. Deserted Places. January 2016. http://desertedplaces.blogspot.com/2016/01/okpo-land-abandoned-amusement-park-in.html. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  16. Games) CB (Worthy G/ E. Destination: Okpo Great Victory Commemorative Park (Geoje-do, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea). Medium. https://medium.com/@chrisbacke/destination-okpo-great-victory-commemorative-park-geoje-do-gyeongsangnam-do-south-korea-7fe12f86100e. Published November 26, 2017. Accessed October 17, 2019.
  17. Display Location: Okpo Land Amusement Park – Urban Exploration Resource. https://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=26860. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  18. John. DSC_0647.; 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/johnwjohnson/5974484763/. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  19. Entertainment Simulator – SRV. Doron Precision Simulator Systems. https://doronprecision.com/entertainment/srv/. Accessed October 28, 2019.
  20. Geoje. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geoje&oldid=920472426. Accessed October 17, 2019.
  21. GEOJE ISLAND TOUR | South Korea – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X0Q499ltkI. Accessed October 29, 2019.
  22. Google Translate. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ko&u=http://premium.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2015/09/03/2015090302893.html&prev=search. Accessed October 17, 2019.
  23. Google Translate. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ko&u=http://www.ohmynews.com/NWS_Web/view/at_pg.aspx%3FCNTN_CD%3DA0000042155&prev=search. Accessed October 17, 2019.
  24. Google Translate. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ko&u=http://www.gjn.kr/news/articleView.html%3Fidxno%3D11302&prev=search. Accessed October 17, 2019.
  25. HIGHTOPS Kiddie Basketball Ticket Redemption Arcade Machine Game for sale by SKEE BALL – KNOCKS YOUR SOCKS OFF! | COIN-OP PARTS ETC | Arcade | Pinball | Vending. https://www.coinoppartsetc.com/product/machines-sale-ticket-redemption-games/hightops-kiddie-basketball-ticket-redemption-arcade. Accessed October 28, 2019.
  26. Chea S. IMG_5599.; 2011. https://www.flickr.com/photos/stevenchea/5713636070/. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  27. Jeff Moses (album on Facebook). https://www.facebook.com/jeffmoses421/media_set?set=a.10710201876&type=3&l=bca0a. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  28. March | 2011 | Teaching Engrish. https://teachingengrish.wordpress.com/2011/03/. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  29. Carrie. My Single Step: Adventure to the Other Side. My Single Step. September 2012. http://landlockedgirlonanisland.blogspot.com/2012/09/adventure-to-other-side.html. Accessed October 17, 2019.
  30. Ok-Po Land — The Deadly Amusement Park. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-nkL0lTQW4. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  31. Okpo amusent park and swimming pool, Geoje Island South Korea. https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/overseas-sites/11276-okpo-amusent-park-swimming-pool-geoje-island-south-korea.html#.XafMIudKgWo. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  32. Okpo Land. In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Okpo_Land&oldid=900985213. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  33. Okpo Land. Creepypasta Wiki. https://creepypasta.fandom.com/wiki/Okpo_Land. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  34. Imgur. Okpo Land – Abandoned amusement park in South Korea. Imgur. https://imgur.com/gallery/1EqtC. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  35. Okpo Land – An Abandoned Theme Park in South Korea. http://www.worldabandoned.com/okpo-land. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  36. OKPO LAND (THE DEATH OF AN AMUSEMENT PARK) – 랜드 (유원지의 죽음) – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NmPJmC1yCE. Accessed October 15, 2019.
  37. Okpo land Amusement park | Abandoned Theme Park | South Korea | HD – YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISa9fMJurt8. Accessed October 15, 2019.
  38. Okpo Land 옥포랜드. http://theshitizens.blogspot.com/2011/08/okpo-land.html. Accessed October 17, 2019.
  39. Okpo Land, abandoned South Korean fun park. https://abandonedplaces.livejournal.com/1814560.html. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  40. Okpo Land: The Most Horrible Amusement Park in Korea. Hiexpat Korea. https://www.englishspectrum.com/okpo-land-horrible-amusement-park-korea/. Published July 28, 2014. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  41. Okpo Land: The Most Horrible Amusement Park in Korea. Hiexpat Korea. https://www.englishspectrum.com/okpo-land-horrible-amusement-park-korea/. Published July 28, 2014. Accessed October 21, 2019.
  42. Okpoland. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv1iMDFq5KM. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  43. Pirate ship (ride). In: Wikipedia. ; 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pirate_ship_(ride)&oldid=917598708. Accessed October 29, 2019.
  44. Sky Bike Pedal Track Rides Outdoor Amusement Park Game – Buy Outdoor Amusement Park Game,Track Rides Outdoor Amusement Park Game,Sky Bike Outdoor Amusement Park Game Product on Alibaba.com. www.alibaba.com. //www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Sky-bike-pedal-track-rides-outdoor_60603081736.html. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  45. The 10 Dos and 20 Donts of Urban Exploration in Korea. https://www.asiapundits.com/10-dos-20-donts-urban-exploration-korea/. Accessed October 21, 2019.
  46. Wade R, Veneroso F. The Asian Crisis: The High Debt Model Versus the Wall Street-Treasury-IMF Compl. :20.
  47. Schatz RW. The Ghosts Of Okpo Land – Abandoned Amusement Park In South Korea. In Transit. October 2016. https://schatztravels.wordpress.com/2016/10/11/the-ghosts-of-okpo-land-abandoned-amusement-park-in-south-korea/. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  48. Two specially spoiled facilities, no redevelopment solution? -News & Geoje. http://www.newsngeoje.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=6091. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  49. Urbex Korea | Jon Dunbar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMJwvf6YyMA&fbclid=IwAR1-H9SesrDHC0cieLBSxBTpgCqm4W-LEBWbR44C2P1EGAstmwKbRl3CiBI. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  50. เรียว ไ. อาถรรพ์สยอง สถานที่สุดเฮี้ยนทั่วโลก. บริษัท ไพลินบุ๊คเน็ต จำกัด (มหาชน)
  51. 구 옥포랜드 관리 “하나 안하나” – 새거제신문. http://www.saegeoje.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=188455. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  52. 구 옥포랜드 관리 ‘하나 안하나’ – 뉴스앤거제. http://www.newsngeoje.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=6385. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  53. 대우조선해양, 옛 옥포랜드에 호텔 기공식. 중앙일보. https://news.joins.com/article/6861936. Published December 9, 2011. Accessed October 17, 2019.
  54. 양반탈 – Photos. https://www.facebook.com/pg/yangbantal/photos/?tab=album&album_id=179528188778398. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  55. 옥포랜드 1. 네이버 블로그 | 거꾸로 본 세상. https://blog.naver.com/deepinblue/20092452625. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  56. 옥포랜드 2. 네이버 블로그 | 거꾸로 본 세상. https://blog.naver.com/deepinblue/20092453222. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  57. 옥포랜드 을씨년스러운 풍경이 외국에 까지 소개되다. 사진은 권력이다. https://photohistory.tistory.com/3495. Published July 29, 2008. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  58. 옥포랜드는 쓰레기 천국? – 거제타임즈. http://www.geojetimes.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=17393. Published January 17, 2007. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  59. 전국 사라진 놀이공원 현황 (1). 네이버 블로그 | 은비까비의 지구살이. https://blog.naver.com/eunbee_kabee/220494044723. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  60. 전국 서바이벌 대회 거제서 열린다 – 거제타임즈. http://www.geojetimes.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=25404. Published September 13, 2008. Accessed October 16, 2019.
  61. 한국의 버려진 놀이동산 “거제 옥포랜드” 이야기. 네이버 블로그 | 기범의 취미로 운영하는 개인블로그. http://blog.naver.com/rara4000/221490791285. Accessed October 16, 2019.

1 comment on “Okpo Land

  1. Janelle Locher

    What is on #9 on this promo brochure from the park? With that beautiful painted wall? Is that where the bumper cars are?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.