Among central Seoul’s gray concrete buildings, lies a 450-meter road lined with walls plastered with pictures of eccentric comic characters from stories that mesmerized Koreans for decades.

Painted in vibrant colors, the walls on Zaemiro, meaning fun street, bring life to Korean comic characters that later become inspirations to many K-dramas.

In the first section, visitors are welcomed by the characters from “The Palace,” a popular teen romance cartoon-turned-drama that went viral across Asia.

The street also displays works by two rival cartoonists -- Heo Young-man’s “Gourmet” and Lee Hyun-se’s “The Terrifying Mercenary Baseball Team.”

Walking a little further, cartoon history takes a turn to a recent webtoon era. The screen fence introduces characters from Daum and Naver webtoons. They include characters from Hun’s “Secretly Greatly,” Kang Pool’s “I love you,” Yoon Tae-ho’s “Incomplete Life,” and Cho Seok’s “The Sound of Your Heart.” Most of the cartoons have been remade into productions for the small and big screens.

The comic road starts from exit three of Myeong-dong station, on subway line No. 4, and leads to Zaemirang, a small cartoon exhibition center.



Photo by Park Hyun-koo

Written by Byun Hye-jin