In 2014 Avenger: Age of Ultron filmed in Seoul, marking the first time South Korea had prominently featured in a Hollywood blockbuster. The shoot focused on Seoul's ten-lane Mapo Bridge for a key action sequence involving Captain America and Black Widow. After the profile boost that Avengers 2 provided, a stream of Hollywood projects came calling including seasons one and two of Sense8 by Lana and Lily Wachowiski, Nacho Vigalondo’s Colossal, Boon Joon-ho’s Okja, Steven S. DeKnight’s Pacific Rim: Uprising and Ryan Coogler’s 2018 hit Black Panther. The projects featured varying locations including ultra modern cities, traditional neighbourhoods, temples, mountain and coastal landscapes.
The stream of incoming productions has been helped by the 30% cash rebate on production expenditures for feature films, television series and documentaries spending more than KRW50 million (approx. USD50,000) on goods and services in Korea. Producers can mix and match KOFIC’s rebate with other cash incentives and in-kind support from regional film commissions such as Seoul, Incheon and Busan Film Commission.
2019 was another good year for South Korea, with thirty-four international projects including the final installment of Netflix All the Boys films Always and Forever and French romantic comedy #iamhere from Eric Lartigau.
Since 2015, the Korea Film Commissions and Industry Network (KFCIN) has been working to promote Korea as a filming location internationally. They act as the major inbound contact point representing all regional film commissions.
We were actually able to spend weeks rehearsing stunts on a nearby motorway that wasn’t yet open and wasn’t enclosed by any kind of building development. That’s not an option that’s readily available in places like Hong Kong. I would think this film will only enhance Seoul’s attractiveness as an international filming location for the right project.”
Jamie Lengyel, Supervising Location Manager on Avengers: Age of Ultron
South Korea has a continental climate with cold, dry winters with an average low of -10C in January, and hot, humid summers with a daytime average of 31C in August.
Spring and autumn are very short so summer starts in late April and winter is back in October. Winters are also made harsher by cold winds from Siberia.
Between June and September the weather is very wet and typhoons are likely.
