Atop a ridge surrounding by rural fields, these voluminous circular buildings easily catch the eye as they are much larger than anything else in the vicinity. But even from a distance there is no mistake they are vacant and lifeless. Dense vegetation protects and isolates the buildings while slowly swallowing the bottom levels. Three buildings, one rectangular and two circular, compose the complex. Each circular building showcases an atrium that forms a central void spanning 5 floors and capped with a wide skylight.

These circular designs make for an impressive setting, so it’s no surprise they have brought the attention of film location scouts. Over the past few years, these buildings have been the filming locations for scenes in several kpop music videos, kdramas, and kmovies. Starting with VIXX (빅스) “The Closer” in 2016, which set the entire video inside, seven music videos have featured scenes there. Additionally, a few korean dramas have utilized the buildings sometimes as a recurring setting.¹

But what are these buildings? Why are they there? The unfinished bare concrete, and the coating of dust on the incomplete forms convey that it is a project that was abandoned mid-construction. The origin of these buildings dates back to 1995. This site was to be a satellite campus for a health university and construction started in 1996.² But like many other projects in South Korea at that time³ , country-wide financial difficulties resulting from the IMF crisis of 1999 are to blame for its downfall. The construction was at 70% complete when it stopped.² The university may have maintained aspirations to resume the development and open the campus, but it never recovered the means to do so. In 2017 the plan to open the campus was officially canceled.⁴ The expense of demolition and the lack of interest from developers to buy the property resulted in the site sitting neglected and untouched for over 20 years.⁵

However, one unexplained string in the story still remains. A mostly repetitive examination of the interiors uncovers an anomaly: several rooms full of furniture. While not even the restrooms were complete, a few rooms were full of desks, books, and decaying furniture commonly found in a school facility hinting of use at some point. Perhaps this was just storage or the rooms were staged as mockup classrooms.

Since this unfinished university campus does not have a convenient location and is not high-demand real estate, it’s predictable that the sizable concrete structures will probably remain for many more years. Although they never saw use as a school, the impressive design will at least continue to be utilized as a filming location for kpop videos and kdramas. With several scenes filmed there there in the last year or two, it equivocates how much screen time it will gather before the atrium’s visuals no longer seem so outstanding and original.