Our first trip to Seoul, South Korea took place back in 2012. It took over 10 years for my daughter and I to return — October 2024 to be exact. My daughter and I very much into K-Drama last year and so of course going on the MBC Studio Tour was a priority activity. It was a good opportunity since hubby and son are not into it so we didn’t have to worry about them. I’ve been to the Warner Brothers and Paramount Studio Tours in the US, so I wanted to see how a Korean Studio Tour would compare.
The tour starts at the MBC Dream Center in Seoul. It’s a massive building which houses a lot of facilities — sound stages, studios, workshops, script-reading rooms… you name it.
We were taken to the set of the musical show “King of Masked Singers”.
Our guides were comprised of people from MBC and tour guides from the tour operator. Every place we went to was fully explained and given ample context.
We went to a conference room where we were told initial script-reading happens. The MBC people gave us some snacks and a script book to keep as a souvenir.
We were then shown dressing rooms actors and actresses actually use when they need to wait, rest, get touched up, etc.
We were also shown part of the set of MBC’s Show Champion. It’s a musical show where K-pop idols like Jennie, G-Dragon, Kang Daniel, and bands like Seventeen, Aespa, Blackpink, etc. perform their latest singles.
There are a lot of prop storage areas where a variety of doors, windows, and other background items are stored.
We also got a glimpse of the editing facilities.
Since I picked the tour which included a K-Drama rehearsal, we were taken to the set where the actors were practicing their lines. Unfortunately photos and videos were not allowed.
The actress we saw that day was Shim Yi-young. She played Lee Do-hyun’s stepmother in Youth of May. She’s the woman on the left with Go Min-si in the photo above. She is incredibly petite in person. We did not really get to interact with her as she was in the middle of practicing her lines and blocking with her fellow actors.
I would like to make it clear that the K-Drama rehearsal isn’t what you think. It’s not the typical 16-episode series we’re all used to. What they shoot and rehearse here is the hundred episode daily soap opera type of drama. Think “General Hospital” in US terms. The Philippine equivalent would be something like “Mara Clara”? Most of the time, you won’t know the actors/actresses in the rehearsal so I guess we got lucky that I have actually watched a few dramas with Shim Yi-young in them… and both of us actually watched Youth of May.
Overall, it was quite interesting and enjoyable if you are into Korean entertainment. The MBC folks are very accommodating and knowledgeable.
What I have shared is my experience as of November 2024. Since early 2025, there have been a few changes to this tour:
- There are now 3 choices: MBC Studio Tour, MBC Studio Tour with Drama Rehearsal, and MBC Studio Tour with King of Masked Singers rehearsal. Cheapest option is just the tour while most expensive is the one with King of Masked Singers.
- The tour used to be comprised of going around the MBC Dream Center and then going elsewhere. In our case, it was Aqua Planet Ilsan from Queen of Tears. We had lunch at the Aqua Planet Ilsan food court. Starting 2025, the second part of the tour takes place at the MBC Sangam-dong Headquarters.
- They now allow you to go to the sets and take photos, sometimes with the actors if they are willing.
- There’s a souvenir shop now. There wasn’t one last year.
We might do this again in the future since they’ve introduced a lot of new elements to the tour. We’ll probably pick the one with King of Masked Singers rehearsal since you get to watch 4 performers on stage.
Booked the MBC Studio Tour with Drama Rehearsal via Klook.
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