“Beneath all this light lies a darkness
that must never be forgotten.”
Before the Lights
One million visitors come here every year for the light shows, the wine cave, the fantasy creatures, and the golden waterfalls. But Gwangmyeong Cave carries a history that deserves more than a passing glance.
This is not just a theme park. It is a wound that became a wonder.
A Timeline Worth Knowing about Gwangmyeong Cave
miners at peak
Korean-owned mines in 1920
years as a warehouse
total tunnel length
Entrance Tunnel 바람길
Step inside — and feel it. A constant breeze of 12°C greets you at the threshold, cool in summer, gently warm in the depths of winter. This is where Gwangmyeong Cave begins.
Step inside — and feel it.
A constant 12°C, cool in summer, warm in winter.
Wormhole Plaza 웜홀광장
The heart of the cave, where tunnels branch in every direction. Draped in LED light and media art, this is your first photo stop — and your first hint of just how far this place has come from its industrial past.
The heart of the cave — where tunnels branch in every direction.
Dripping with LED light and media art, this is your first photo stop.
World of Light 빛의 공간
Walls of colour. Tunnels of light. This section feels less like a cave — and more like walking through another universe. Sculptural light installations fill every surface, making the raw rock walls disappear entirely.
Walls of colour. Tunnels of light.
This section feels less like a cave — and more like walking through another universe.
Cave Arts Center 동굴 예술의전당
Korea’s only underground performance hall. The raw cave walls become a screen for a stunning media façade laser show — check the schedule before you visit, and don’t miss it.
Pro tip: Check the laser show schedule before you visit. It runs at set times and is widely considered the highlight of the entire cave experience.
Cave Aqua World 동굴 아쿠아월드
An aquarium — inside a cave. Fed entirely by underground bedrock water, this is home to rare and native fish species you won’t find anywhere else. And nestled among them, framed by the silhouette of an old mine cart: an Asian Arowana — one of the world’s most expensive ornamental fish.
A mine cart that once hauled gold —
now home to one of the world’s most expensive ornamental fish. Meet the Asian Arowana.
Golden Road, Golden Falls, and Underworld 황금길, 황금폭포, 지하왕국
A tribute to the gold and silver once mined here. Hang a golden wish plaque on the wall — then watch the magnificent golden waterfall crash down the cave face at 1.4 tonnes of water per minute.
“Hang a golden wish on the wall —
then witness the golden waterfall cascading down the cave face.”
Fantasy Weta Gallery 판타지 웨타 갤러리
Descend the steep stairs into the deep underground. A 41-metre dragon — crafted by Weta Workshop, the team behind The Lord of the Rings — rules the darkness below, alongside Gollum and an array of fantasy creatures straight out of Middle-earth.
Fun fact: The dragon and Gollum were created by Weta Workshop in New Zealand — the same studio behind the creatures and props in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Modern History Hall 근대역사관
This is the heart of the cave — not the most spectacular, but the most important. The history hall tells the full story: from forced labour under Japanese colonial rule, through Korea’s industrial era, to the cave’s unlikely rebirth as a cultural landmark.
What the Walls Remember
We remember the darkness they endured —
the tears, the silence, the weight of stone and colonial shadow.
Look closely at the stone tools and ore samples on display. The rocks they broke. The tools they used. Everything else was taken.
And look at the walls themselves — the pickaxe marks left by those 500 miners are still there. Nobody smoothed them over. Nobody should.
Wine Cave 와인동굴
Where the journey ends — in a cave-cooled cellar of Korean wines. The cave’s steady temperature makes it a natural wine cellar; browse wines from across Korea, learn their stories, and taste before you leave.
Where the journey ends — in a cave-cooled cellar of Korean wines.
Browse, taste, and take a little piece of this place home.
The Way Out
The same path in — but it hits different on the way out. One last walk under the lights, carrying a hundred years of history.
And just before you leave, she waits at the threshold. The Peace Statue of a Girl — quietly bearing witness to a history that must never be forgotten.
We came for the light.
But we leave carrying something heavier —
a history that deserves to be remembered.
Visitor Information
Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi-do
Bring a light jacket
“The Gwangmyeong Cave slowly lets you go.”
Back to the light. Back to the world above.
Though the temperature hasn’t changed a bit.
The tears. The pain.
The hands that built this country from the ground up.”
