#SM Artium #COEX #Seoul Must-look before exploring COEX, Seoul
Eunyeong Kwon
If you have ever planned or visited Korea, you may have heard of the COEX located in Seoul, Korea. Moreover, if you are a fan of SM Entertainment artists, I bet you’re planning to visit this place because SM Artium is also located here! For those who have no idea what the COEX is, I attach the Wikipedia’s information about the COEX for your reference.
Starfield COEX Mall (formerly known as COEX Mall), containing convention centers, exhibition halls, and many malls, is an underground shopping mall in Gangnam-gu Seoul(to be exact, Samseong station, line 2) It has an area of about 154,000 square meters, of which 144,000 are on a single underground floor, making it the world’s largest underground shopping mall. Millennium Square is the main exit of COEX Mall connecting with Samseong station(line 2). Bongeunsa station(line 9) is connected to the North Exit. Construction of the mall began in May 1997 and finished in April 2000. Construction costs amounted to ₩140 billion. The COEX complex renovation was completed on 27 November 2014.
Born in 1992, I still vividly remember the renovation of COEX. In fact, it was the first time to go inside COEX since the renovation, and I was literally shocked at the hugeness of the mall. Often times, people say that even native Seoulites get lost at COEX Mall, Express Bus Terminal, and Seoul Station, and I could totally understand the reason. I visited by Seoul Metro line 2, so I got off at Samseong station.
You can go out of exit 5 or exit 6. There’s passage directly connected to COEX from the subway station.You just need to follow the way out direction to COEX.Starfield is the name of the company that currently has a stake in COEX. You can follow the direction that says Starfield Coex. You don’t have to go outside to find the COEX! It’s connected through an underground passage.There is also a billboard in the aisle of the subway station. Maybe your favorite idol or actor’s face will come out! I saw A-pink’s face on it! So pretty 🙂If you find this signboard, you’re almost there!Just go through the passage of the picture above, then you’ll be connected to the outside. The day I visited was so sunny, that I took a lot of selfies LOL Apologies in advance for many selfies.No worries even though you don’t know any Korean. Find the word, COEXThis mall is connected to COEX, as well(It’s almost impossible to separate them), and it’s managed by Intercontinental Group.This might be the first view when you completely go through the passage from the station and get outside of it.There were many people even though it was lunchtime on weekdays. There are many companies here, so many office workers visit on weekdays. There are already too many shops, such as H&M, McDonald’s, and Boots on the ground floor even before entering the mall.I wanted to show how tall the buildings were!I felt SM Ent’s power once again after seeing this building. Of course, KPOP is a huge industry in Korea now, but even so, locating SM Artium in this kind of fancy and tall building is still amazing. Wow for SM.You can find the entrance for SM Artium right next to this signboard saying Starfield COEX Mall. You can either go from B1 or from the first floor after taking that escalator you can see from this picture.I took the elevator from B1I’ve never been to COEX Mall, but I’ve been to SM Artium several times for my foreign friends. I’ve never known that they use 6 floors for SM Artium… Wow again!You can take the elevator to any floor you want. FYI, you need to pay extra fee to enter the museum. I don’t know what that geometric pattern means, but it was so pretty. Isn’t it?I came outside on the first floor to take pictures of the different ways to Artium. You will see this view in case you come out of the subway station using exit 5 or 6 instead of going to COEX through the underground passageway or in case you take a bus.Samseong station (line 2) Exit 5 or 6!! It’s right in front of the COEX building, and SM Artium.COEX is a typical city area in Seoul. You can feel the most state-of-the-art face of Seoul!The screen which covers the building shows videos of SM artist and commercials. I saw Taemin on the screen that day 🙂Look how pretty the scenery near COEX is! It’s a typical city view, isn’t it?I wanted to show how tall the buildings are, AGAIN LOLThere’s a small square(?) in front of SM Artium. They have handprints of SM artists there! There were many SM fans that day for a picture, as well!I took a glimpse at the handprints. TVXQ was my fav idol when I was a middle school student 🙂 There were many names I don’t even know…….(Old lady…)I do know EXO though!!! HahahahaPut my hand on Henry’s handprint. He is really adorable, isn’t he?Look at the diligent SM fans who were already there to take a look at handprints.I really want to know what that characters mean.. haha.. The building itself was aesthetically beautiful.The proof of SM’s success hahahaLook!! Taemin’s on the screen!Another sky shot. It was a really beautiful fall(yet cold) day !They run SM artists’ music videos on another screen in front of the SM Artium.You can take a number of pictures even before entering the SM Artium. What a gorgeous building it is.The interior, of course, was really sophisticated and fancy. You can take escalators from floors to floors.You can buy special goods on the second floor. It was not allowed to take photos inside, so just take a rough look of the inside 🙂There were many fans from all over the world browsing what to buy. For them, it must be heaven hahaI’m not a fan of SM, but even for me, Pantone goods were really cute and tempting!SM museum is located on the 3rd floor, and you can see many pictures of your favorite SM artist! They even display clothes they actually wore on the stage!Hi! Yoonho! My idol lol I was shocked that one of my clients(for BTS tour) couldn’t recognize him.(She was born in 2002…) Understandable….And I know EXO!
Even if you are not a fan of SM entertainment, I think it’s totally worth visiting. You can just stop by if you have plans to visit COEX! Also, if you are a fan of SM entertainment, don’t go back to your hotel only after exploring SM Artium. There’s so much more in COEX!!!! I’m going to post about COEX Mall in the next posting.
