BTS BENCHES - SEOUL FOREST
Address: 273, Ttukseom-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul
Perhaps my favorite era of BTS’s career is their Love Yourself series, which spoke volumes about how accepting and loving ourselves is the starting point of true love. It is a theme that I embraced more during the pandemic. The tracks of this album were on loop for most of my fleeting days in 2020.
Luckily, KTO capped off our tour by bringing us to Seoul Forest where Suga did a photoshoot for Love Yourself. Seoul Forest is a premium city park likened to Central Park in New York or Hyde Park in London. It is surrounded by residential towers and office buildings, and just a few minutes away from SM Entertainment and Under Stand Avenue is an outdoor shopping/cultural space comprised of cargo shipping containers.
Our tour guide, Yale Kim, took us to the actual tunnel where Suga had this shoot for his Love Yourself poster. I couldn’t help asking that a photo be taken, because he had been there.
In Seoul Forest’s Gingko Lane, fans of RM (a forest-lover himself) have “adopted” benches bearing his name and some lines of his songs in celebration of his mixtape’s anniversary. The place is the perfect venue to catch a breather, read a book, and be one with nature to heal.
Other BTS members also have their benches in another area of the park. On my next trip with friends, I will probably spend two to three hours in Seoul Forest, not just to be on a quest for more BTS benches, but also to immerse myself in this park’s calming, soul-soothing vibes — the very reason why I am on a holiday, after all.