N Seoul Tower

The tower on top of Namsan is run by two operators. The building as a whole carries the brand 'YTN Seoul Tower', and it is made up of the 'Seoul Tower Plaza' (floors 1–4) below and 'N Seoul Tower' (5F and the tower floors T1–T7), which CJ Foodville has leased and operated since 2005. 5F is the level with the observatory entrance. In this guide, observatory hours, admission and the floor directory come from the N Seoul Tower website, walking routes, nearby sights and the Plaza shops from the YTN Seoul Tower website, and cable car details from the Namsan Cable Car's official pages. Where the sources give different numbers, we say which operator gives which figure.

Observatory hours and admission

The figures below come from N Seoul Tower's 'Hours & Admission' pages. The observatory is open 365 days a year, and the last entry is 30 minutes before closing. The operator notes that hours may change with the weather and its operating schedule.

The English fare page does not list discounts; they are on the Korean fare page. Visitors with a grade 1–3 disability get 30% off for themselves and one companion, those with a grade 4–6 disability get 30% off for themselves, and these discounts do not apply to packages or groups. National merit recipients with a service-related disability of grades 1–3 get the same discount as disabled visitors, and national merit recipients get 30% off for themselves. According to the N Seoul Tower FAQ, the discount is limited to holders of a disability welfare card or a national merit certificate.

There is no advance booking for the observatory: you buy a same-day ticket and go in. Tickets are valid only on the day of purchase and are sold at the information desk on 5F and the ticket booth on T1 (N Seoul Tower FAQ). The floor directory also lists a ticket machine on 5F.

When we checked the notice titles on the first page of N Seoul Tower's notice board (in Korean) on October 21, 2026, none mentioned changes to fares or opening hours. The same list also has a notice dated March 20, 2026, on renovation work at N Burger and N Terrace. Check the notices again before you go.

What is on each floor

N Seoul Tower's floor directory lists 5F and the tower floors, which it calls 'Tower 1F', 'Tower 2F' and so on (T1, T2 … in this guide); there is no entry for T6. In the directory, the observatory covers two floors, T4 and T5.

According to the N Seoul Tower FAQ, The Place Dining on T2 can be used without buying an observatory ticket. Booking n.GRILL (T7) in advance gets you into the observatory free, and dining at Hancook (T3) gets you a discount on observatory admission. To reach n.GRILL and Hancook you go down to N Seoul Tower's basement level and take the elevator up; reservations are recommended for the restaurants.

According to YTN Seoul Tower's 'Store Directory', Seoul Tower Plaza has restaurants, cafés and other shops on the first and second floors, and the third floor is a broadcasting security area with restricted access.

What to enjoy at the observatory and on the square

N Seoul Tower says its observatory stands 400 m above sea level. According to the N Seoul Tower FAQ, on a clear day you can see up to 50 km with the naked eye: Achasan Mountain and Ttukseom to the east, Yanghwa Bridge, Nanjido and Ilsan to the west, Gwanaksan Mountain and the Seoul Arts Center to the south, and Bukhansan Mountain and Cheonggyecheon Stream to the north.

The digital telescopes show the city on an LCD screen with up to 36x optical zoom, and they are on T2 (Roof Terrace), T4 and T5. N Seoul Tower's observatory page has a tip titled 'Find the star from the observatory': the city lights and roads combine to draw a star on the ground, with Yongsan-daero as one of its points. The 'Secret of the lights' section of YTN Seoul Tower's 'Tower Inside' page (in Korean) says that the Seoul city government and YTN Seoul Tower show air pollution levels through the lights.

According to the N Seoul Tower FAQ, the square has a 'Tree of Love' for hanging padlocks, and the locks are sold at N Gift, which the FAQ places on 'Plaza 1F'; the floor directory lists N Gift on T1, T5 and 5F. The same FAQ's 'Sky Post Office' entry says the gift shop in the observatory (the FAQ calls it 'Tower Gift') sells postcards and stamps, and that mailed cards take about 2–3 days within Korea and about 15 days abroad.

YTN Seoul Tower has picked seven photo spots that capture Namsan well and named them the 'Namsan 7 Views'. The floor labels (1F, 2F, 4F) are given as YTN Seoul Tower writes them.

1. YTN Seoul Tower bus stop (last stop)
2. The Square, 1F
3. Proposal Staircase, 1F
4. Bridge of Love, 2F
5. Sunset Zone, 4F
6. Tunnel of Love, 4F
7. Yoohoo Stairs, 4F

Getting up — regular cars cannot drive to the top

To protect the ecology of Namsan Park, access for regular passenger cars has been restricted since May 1, 2005 (N Seoul Tower directions). Cars displaying a disability ID sticker (welfare card grades 1–3) may enter but must pay a toll to the Seoul city government, and since August 2021 tour buses have also faced entry restrictions (YTN Seoul Tower FAQ). N Seoul Tower's directions tell diesel tour buses to park at the Namsan Yejang Bus Transfer Parking Lot and transfer to the circular bus. If you come by car, park in a nearby parking lot and continue by circular bus or on foot. The tower's address is 105 Namsangongwon-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

The text of YTN Seoul Tower's 'Public Transportation' page says the circular buses start from the 'Toegyero 3-ga. Traditional Korean Village. Korea House' stop and run in one direction only. On the route map on the same page and in N Seoul Tower's route list, however, the 01A and 01B routes are both listed from the Namsan Yejang Bus Transfer Parking Lot, and the Toegyero 3-ga stop does not appear on the 01B route map. The intervals differ by source: YTN Seoul Tower gives 6–9 minutes for 01A and 15–18 minutes for 01B, while N Seoul Tower gives 9 minutes for 01A and 14 minutes for 01B. YTN Seoul Tower says the buses are cashless, so you board with a transportation card; if you only have cash, it suggests buying a card at a nearby convenience store, using a mobile transportation card, or paying by bank transfer with the fare payment notice handed out. N Seoul Tower describes 01B as the former No. 8001 bus.

Namsan Oreumi (YTN Seoul Tower's English pages call it the 'Namsan Outdoor Escalator') is an inclined elevator linking the Namsan Tunnel 3 entrance with the cable car station; the ride to the cable car takes 2 minutes and is free. Besides the Monday inspection, it also stops in strong winds or heavy rain. If you walk up, YTN Seoul Tower lists these starting points and times.

• From the entrance of the southern circuit road in front of Namsan Library: about 30 minutes
• From the ticket booth beside the National Theater of Korea along the southern circuit road: about 40 minutes
• From the steps next to the National Theater of Korea, taking the southern circuit road from the same ticket booth and then turning right onto the steps: about 30 minutes
• From the Sam-soon Steps (beside the Seoul Education Research & Information Institute), known from the drama 'My Lovely Sam-soon', to Palgakjeong Pavilion: about 40 minutes

Namsan Cable Car — fares and where to board

The Namsan Cable Car opened on May 12, 1962, and the operator describes it as Korea's first passenger cable car. Its cabins went from 20 to 38 seats in 1984 and were replaced with 48-person cabins in 2005, and the ride covers about 600 m in about 3 minutes each way. It runs every day of the year from 10:00 to 23:00, and the last tickets are sold 30 minutes before closing. Service may stop or end early in bad weather.

Tickets can only be paid for on site. Seniors, national merit recipients and others get the concession fare, the same as the child fare, only when they show proof of eligibility. The group fare applies when 30 or more people buy tickets at once, and the local resident discount applies only to the holder of an ID that shows their address.

The station is at 83 Sopa-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (Yejang-dong). The cable car operator's directions: leave Myeongdong Station by Exit 3, turn into the alley with the 7-Eleven, and walk about 7–8 minutes along the road between the Pacific Hotel and a GS25 store; N Seoul Tower's directions give 10 minutes from the same exit to the cable car, following the road to the right of the Pacific Hotel. For the Oreumi, the cable car operator says to go straight from Myeongdong Station Exit 4 and turn left at Hoehyeon Intersection; the Oreumi is near the Namsan Tunnel 3 completion monument. YTN Seoul Tower's 'Cable Car' page says it takes about 15 minutes from Myeongdong Station Exit 5, via Hoehyeon Intersection, the Oreumi and the cable car, to reach the tower.

A free shuttle bus runs between the front of Myeongdong Station Exit 1 and the cable car parking lot. According to the cable car's official timetable it runs from the 12:00 hour to the 20:00 hour, mostly every 10 minutes. From Myeongdong Station, though, the bus after 14:10 is at 15:20, and the 18:00 hour has only the 18:40 and 18:50 buses; from the cable car parking lot, the bus after 14:00 is at 15:10, and the 18:00 hour starts at 18:30. The last buses leave Myeongdong Station at 20:50 and the cable car parking lot at 20:40. The timetable also notes that intervals may vary in the 14:00, 15:00, 17:00, 18:00 and 20:00 hours and asks riders to check it before boarding. The cable car parking lot is small, and the operator recommends using a nearby parking lot.

The tower's history

N Seoul Tower's overview introduces it as Korea's first integrated broadcast transmission tower, set up in 1969 to send TV and radio broadcasts to the capital region. N Seoul Tower's history page gives December 1969 for the start of construction and July 1975 for the completion of the observatory, and YTN Seoul Tower's introduction gives July 1975 as the tower's completion date. According to YTN Seoul Tower's Korean introduction page, until analog broadcasting ended in 2012 the tower carried transmitting antennas for KBS, MBC and SBS as well as TBS and Gugak FM, and 48% of the country's potential viewers watched broadcasts through it; it still serves as a transmitting station for KBS, MBC, SBS and terrestrial DMB.

The height differs by source

N Seoul Tower's specifications give the tower a height of 236.7 m (135.7 m shaft plus 101 m steel tower) and Namsan a height of 270.0 m up to the building site, for 506.7 m above sea level. YTN Seoul Tower's 'The Brand Story' page gives a total height of 480 m above sea level; the Korean version of the page breaks this down as Namsan's 243 m elevation plus the 237 m shaft and steel tower.

Rules to know before you go

• Packed lunches: the N Seoul Tower FAQ's 'packed lunch' entry says food cannot be eaten inside N Seoul Tower and asks visitors to eat packed lunches on the square in front of Palgakjeong Pavilion.
• Pets: N Seoul Tower has no separate area for dogs, so you cannot bring one in (N Seoul Tower FAQ). The YTN Seoul Tower FAQ asks owners to keep pets on a leash and clean up after them, and says that entry to individual shops follows each shop's policy.
• Smoking: according to YTN Seoul Tower's Korean FAQ, YTN Seoul Tower falls under the Natural Parks Act and the whole site is non-smoking; violations are fined ₩100,000.
• Wheelchairs and strollers: wheelchairs and strollers for elderly and disabled visitors and for infants and children are available at the information desk (+82-2-3455-9277, 9288) (YTN Seoul Tower FAQ).
• Holidays and weather: the tower is open on Korean holidays as well. There is no set rule for closing because of the weather, but the N Seoul Tower FAQ says it has to close if the Namsan Park management restricts vehicle access.

Namsan sights to combine with your visit

Namsan Bongsudae (beacon fire station)

Bongsudae were a means of sending urgent messages. From the early Joseon Dynasty, for about 500 years, Namsan had five beacon stations and was the final point where beacons from around the country converged. They were damaged under Japanese colonial rule, and one of the five has been restored and designated a Seoul City Monument. It is below the tower and Palgak Square.

Seoul City Wall

The wall that King Taejo (Yi Seong-gye) built around the capital after choosing Hanyang as the seat of the Joseon Dynasty. It was damaged from the Japanese colonial period onward, so only parts of it remain, and it is designated a Historic Site. YTN Seoul Tower says the route from the Namsan section of the wall past the beacon station to the tower gives a view of the whole wall.

Baekbeom Square

A statue of the independence leader Kim Koo (Baekbeom) was put up in 1968, when the square was laid out. The square lies in Namsan Park, between Children's Square and Central Square (46 Sopa-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul).

Ahn Jung-geun Memorial Museum

A memorial museum with artifacts, records and hands-on exhibits on the life of the independence activist Ahn Jung-geun (91 Sowol-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul).