,Seven American movies and shows were filmed on location in South Korea — Ninja Assassin, Cloud Atlas, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Okja, Sense8, Pachinko and Dr.
Brain.
That matters if you want to spot real Seoul and Busan streets on screen, or visit the filming spots yourself.
This page lists the seven with what was shot where, the two famous names to leave off the list, where each title streams, and how to check any filming-location claim.
Key facts — As of 2026-10-07
- Avengers: Age of Ultron was granted ~9 days of partial Mapo Bridge closure in April 2015 for a car chase — one of the largest Hollywood productions ever granted Seoul street closures.
- Korean games and animations account for 2,153 of 19,707 recorded titles (about 10.9%) in the database, logged under narrative location (P840) rather than filmed location (P915).
- Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix, 2023), the American reality spin-off, was filmed at Cardiff, UK — not in South Korea.
American Movies Filmed in South Korea: The Confirmed List
| Ninja Assassin (2009) | Yes — Seoul streets play Berlin |
|---|---|
| Cloud Atlas (2012) | Yes — Busan, Gwangalli skyline plays Neo-Seoul 2144 |
| Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) | Yes — Seoul: Mapo Bridge chase, Han River, Gangnam |
| Sense8 (2015–2018, Netflix) | Yes — on-location Seoul episodes |
| Okja (2017, Netflix) | Yes — Seoul and rural Gangwon Province |
| Dr. Brain (2021, Apple TV+) | Yes — filmed in South Korea |
| Pachinko (2022–, Apple TV+) | Yes — Korean studios and on location; Season 2 in 2024 |
,Seven American titles were shot on location in South Korea between 2009 and 2022, and each one used a real Korean place for a specific purpose.
Ninja Assassin (2009, Warner Bros., produced by the Wachowskis) filmed heavily in Seoul, with city locations standing in for Berlin and other settings.
Cloud Atlas (2012, Warner Bros.) shot its Neo-Seoul 2144 future scenes in Busan — the Gwangalli beach skyline doubling for a dystopian city.
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015, Marvel/Disney) shot major second-unit and cast scenes in Seoul in April 2015, including the Mapo Bridge car chase, the Han River and Gangnam-area streets.
The Mapo Bridge chase was filmed with the bridge partially closed for about 9 days — one of the largest Hollywood productions ever granted Seoul street closures.
If you want the biggest Hollywood production shot here, Avengers: Age of Ultron is the one to rewatch for Seoul landmarks.
What American Shows Were Filmed in Korea — and Which Were Not
,Five of the seven are American series or streaming originals: Sense8 and Okja on Netflix, Pachinko and Dr.
Brain on Apple TV+.
Sense8 (Netflix, 2015–2018) filmed on-location Seoul episodes for Sun’s storyline, using Seoul markets, subway and hanok settings.
Okja (Netflix, 2017, directed by Bong Joon-ho) was an American streaming feature largely shot in Seoul and rural Gangwon Province.
Dr.
Brain (Apple TV+, 2021) was Apple’s first Korean-language original series, filmed in South Korea, and Pachinko (Apple TV+, 2022–) is the flagship Korea-set American series, with Season 2 airing in 2024.
Two names need striking from any list: M*A*S*H (1972–83) is set in Korea but was filmed entirely in California, and Squid Game: The Challenge (Netflix, 2023), the American reality spin-off, was filmed at Cardiff, UK — not in South Korea.
If someone tells you M*A*S*H was shot in Korea or that The Challenge used a Korean studio, both claims are wrong.
Where to Watch Each Title: Netflix vs Apple TV+
The seven confirmed titles split between two services.
| Title | Service |
|---|---|
| Okja (2017, Netflix, dir. Bong Joon-ho) | Netflix |
| Sense8 (Netflix, 2015–2018) | Netflix |
| Pachinko (Apple TV+, 2022–) | Apple TV+ |
| Dr.
Brain (Apple TV+, 2021) | Apple TV+ | Apple TV+ positions both Pachinko and Dr.
Brain as its Korea-set originals, so an Apple TV+ subscription is the single place to start for those two.
Netflix also carried the 2021 Korean series Squid Game worldwide, but that is a Korean production — not an American title filmed here.
Catalogs differ by country and change often — check the title in your own app before you subscribe, because a title listed for one region is not guaranteed for yours.
Streaming subscription prices could not be confirmed from provider pages, so no price is listed here — check the services’ own pages for the current fee.
Filming Locations You Can Actually Visit: The Mokpo Example
The film 1987’s ‘Yeonhui’s Supermarket’ scenes were shot in Seosan-dong, Mokpo — not Seoul — because few places in the capital keep their 1980s look.
That is a Korean film, but it is the clearest example of how location lists go wrong: the scene name says Seoul, the shooting site is Jeollanam-do.
Behind the real supermarket is a 31-meter air-raid cave (maximum width 2.6 m) dug by forced Korean labor in late World War II, and the site became publicly known after the current owner bought the building in 2017.
Nearby, Mokpo Modern History Hall (National Historic Site No.
289, completed in 1900 as the Japanese consulate) displays a cave exhibit about wartime forced labor.
| Spot | What you will find |
|---|---|
| Yeonhui’s Supermarket, Seosan-dong, Mokpo | Scenes of Yeonhee meeting Lee Han-yeol, delivering a secret letter, and running toward the protest; a 31m air-raid cave behind the building |
| Mokpo Modern History Hall | National Historic Site No. 289, completed 1900 as the Japanese consulate; cave exhibit about wartime forced labor |
| Ssangmun Station, Seoul (line 4, exit 2) | ‘Reply 1988 Alley’ markers and walking course (~60–90 min including Ssangmun Market), plus the Squid Game recruiter scene spot |
The supermarket sits in Mokpo Seosan-dong’s ‘Siwa village’, an old fishing-village alley redecorated with poems and murals by residents and local writers in November 2016.
If your trip is built around filming spots, put the location name — not just the scene name — on the map first, or you may travel to the wrong city.
How to Check Any Filming-Location Claim Yourself
,Movie Scene Map (moviescenemap.com) lets anyone check a Korea filming-location claim against a database of 31,115 locations across 177 countries covering 19,707 movies and series — about 176 locations per country on average.
The data separates filming location (Wikidata property P915, where a production actually shot) from narrative location (P840, where a story is set), and the two must not be merged — Korean games and animations account for 2,153 of 19,707 recorded titles (about 10.9%), logged under narrative location.
- Open the Movie Scene Map data page and search the title you want to verify.
- Check which column applies: filmed location (P915) for movies and series, narrative location (P840) for games and animation.
- Download filming-locations.geojson (ready for QGIS or Leaflet) or filming-locations.csv, plus productions.csv and atlas-compact.json, to build your own list.
- For automated checks, query the read-only MCP server at moviescenemap.com/mcp, which offers 8 tools over the same data.
The coverage is only as complete as volunteers have recorded — 939 productions are listed only at country level with no coordinates, so treat a missing pin as unrecorded, not as proof that filming did not happen.
If I were anchoring this post on one rule, it would be the filmed-vs-narrative distinction — the reason is simple: it is the difference between where cameras rolled and where a story claims to happen, and mixing the two is how wrong lists like the M*A*S*H answer spread.
So the first thing I check before repeating any list is whether the source records filming location (P915) or narrative location (P840).
Related posts
📎 Seoul — everything we know
📎 📅 Upcoming Dates — Release & Event Calendar
Sources
- 31,115 locations, GeoJSON/CSV/MCP endpoint at /mcp, CC0 Wiki (moviescenemap.com)
- Mokpo Seosan-dong supermarket with 31m air-raid cave; Siwa m (joongang.co.kr)
- Owner changed prior to report; ~20 colonial-era caves in Mok (ohmynews.com)
The List in Short
- Netflix carries Okja and Sense8; Apple TV+ carries Pachinko and Dr. Brain.
- M*A*S*H was filmed entirely in California, and Squid Game: The Challenge was filmed in Cardiff, UK — both are common wrong answers.
- Catalogs differ by country and change often, so confirm each title in your own app before subscribing.
- For any location claim, check whether the source records filming location (P915) or narrative location (P840) — they are not the same.
- 939 productions are listed only at country level, so a missing pin is not proof that filming did not happen.
- Near the Mokpo 1987 site, Mokpo Modern History Hall displays a cave exhibit about wartime forced labor.
FAQ
Q. Which American movies were actually filmed in South Korea?
Seven confirmed: Ninja Assassin (2009), Cloud Atlas (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Okja (2017), Sense8 (2015–2018), Dr. Brain (2021) and Pachinko (2022–). Avengers shot major scenes in Seoul in April 2015, including a Mapo Bridge car chase.
Q. What American shows were filmed in Korea?
The American series shot on location in South Korea are Sense8 and Okja on Netflix, and Pachinko and Dr. Brain on Apple TV+. Dr. Brain (2021) was Apple’s first Korean-language original.
Q. Was M*A*S*H filmed in Korea?
No. M*A*S*H (1972–83) is set in Korea but was filmed entirely in California, USA — the most common wrong entry in ‘American shows filmed in Korea’ lists.
Q. Was Squid Game: The Challenge filmed in Korea?
No. The American reality spin-off (Netflix, 2023) was filmed at a studio in Cardiff, UK, not in South Korea. The original Squid Game series is a Korean production filmed in Korea.
Q. Where to watch Pachinko?
Pachinko streams on Apple TV+, with Season 2 airing in 2024. Availability differs by country and catalogs change, so check the title in your own region’s app.
Before you plan a trip around a filming site, verify it yourself — start with the checklist in the last section.
Cover photo: AI-generated illustration (film set camera) — AI-generated image, illustrative only
#americanmoviesfilmedinsouthkorea #filmlocationskorea #pachinkoappletv #netflixkoreafilming #avengersseoul #mokpofilmlocations #moviescenemap
📅Upcoming Schedule — this week 4 · D-day Hangul DaySee all →How this article was made: written with AI assistance from the official and public sources cited here, checked automatically against those sources, and reviewed by the site operator after publishing. Last updated 2026-10-08. Editorial policy
