Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters

Take your next trip with Atlas Obscura!

Our small-group adventures are inspired by our Atlas of the world's most fascinating places, the stories behind them, and the people who bring them to life.

Visit Adventures
Trips Highlight
Street art in Cartagena.
Colombia • 10 days, 9 nights
Colombia Discovery: Coffee, Art & Music
from
Caucasus - Geghard Monastery, Armenia
Armenia • 15 days, 14 nights
Caucasus Road Trip: Azerbaijan, Georgia & Armenia
from
View all trips
Top Destinations
Latest Places
Most Popular Places Random Place Lists Itineraries
Add a Place
Download the App
Top Destinations
View All Destinations »

Countries

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • China
  • France
  • Germany
  • India
  • Italy
  • Japan

Cities

  • Amsterdam
  • Barcelona
  • Beijing
  • Berlin
  • Boston
  • Budapest
  • Chicago
  • London
  • Los Angeles
  • Mexico City
  • Montreal
  • Moscow
  • New Orleans
  • New York City
  • Paris
  • Philadelphia
  • Rome
  • San Francisco
  • Seattle
  • Stockholm
  • Tokyo
  • Toronto
  • Vienna
  • Washington, D.C.
Latest Places
View All Places »
Lighthouse and Museum of Jára Cimrman (Maják a muzeum Járy Cimrmana).
Lighthouse of Jára Cimrman
Markers honor 865 war dead.
Sovjet Ereveld (Soviet Field of Honor)
The intaglio leaves a subtle impression on the land along Riverside Drive in Fort Atkinson.
Panther Intaglio
Schooner Ernestina-Morrissey
Latest Places to Eat & Drink
View All Places to Eat »
The sign declares this the number-one gumbo shop in town.
Gumbo Hut Shioya
The pavlova comes crowned with jewel-like fruit.
Central Park Boathouse
The Village Tavern of Long Grove - exterior.
The Village Tavern
Hunter House Hamburgers
L’Escamoteur
Recent Stories
All Stories Video Podcast
Most Recent Stories
View All Stories »
USDA and Washington State agriculture officials tagged this Asian giant hornet. Sept. 10, 2021.
What Ever Happened to the Murder Hornets?
about 9 hours ago
The exterior of the Hall of Records.
Atlas Obscura Mailbag: Urban Exploration, Illegal Carvings, and Repeat Vacations
2 days ago
Biosphere 2 campus (2016)
Biosphere 2: How Volunteers Survived for 2 Years in an Airtight Habitat
3 days ago
Places like Forest Grove linger on the edge of wilderness and civilization.
Listening for Echoes of the Forest Grove Sound
3 days ago

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All South Korea Gwangju-si Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital

Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital

The abandoned hospital whose elaborate ghost stories cover up the dirty truth - an uneventful sanitation issue and other mundane reasons for its demise.

Gwangju-si, South Korea

Added By
Shannon O'Haire
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
  Sarah DeRemer, used with permission
  Sarah DeRemer, used with permission
The broken halls of Gonjiam   Steven Chea, used with permission
Gonjiam Mental Hospital   Sarah DeRemer, used with permission
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

The Gonjiam Psychiatric hospital has been called one of the most haunted places in South Korea and CNN has claimed it was one of the freakiest places in the world, but the truth of this place isn't the supernatural hotbed that makes for good media fodder.

The media likes to repeat legends of mysterious deaths, mad doctors that were as crazy as the patients in the asylum, and other "fakelore" to hype the creepy factor of the place, but the hospital was closed in the 1990s and abandoned for more mundane reasons than their tall tales would have you believe. Gonjiam was forced to close mainly due to economic downturns, unsanitary conditions, and problems with the sewage disposal system, not due to insane doctors or murderous patients. As the sewage problem grew, the owner left the country and did not leave documentation behind about the land or the buildings on it. Eventually, the hospital just closed its doors and it has been abandoned ever since, unless you count the numerous tourists, camera crews, and ghost hunters who come to stroll through the area, looking for evidence of paranormal activity or the proverbial skeletons in the closets of the asylum.

The hospital is technically closed to the public and locals do not encourage tourists or give directions to the asylum willingly but roughly a thousand people break in and roam the grounds of Gonjiam Psychiatric hospital every year. The buildings stand complete with rusted out machines, hospital remnants, trash, and filthy mattresses, adding to its creepy and haunted reputation.

In 2018, they released a horror film called "Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum" about the Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital.

Update: This was demolished in May 2018.

Related Tags

Abandoned Hospitals Abandoned Insane Asylums Medicine Haunted

Community Contributors

Added By

Shannon Ohaire

Edited By

Rachel, ryanberkebile, TeaAndCoffeeLover

  • Rachel
  • ryanberkebile
  • TeaAndCoffeeLover

Published

November 26, 2013

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • http://seoulistic.com/just-for-fun/koreas-top-3-most-absolutely-scariest-places-ahh/
  • http://www.toonaripost.com/2012/11/world-news/the-truth-of-one-of-the-freakiest-places-on-the-planet/
Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital
Gwangju-si, 464-870
South Korea
37.362433, 127.33474

Nearby Places

Kosik the talking elephant

Yongin-si, South Korea

miles away

Seoul Book Repository

Seoul, South Korea

miles away

Seonjeongneung

Seoul, South Korea

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of South Korea

South Korea

Asia

Places 107
Stories 14

Nearby Places

Kosik the talking elephant

Yongin-si, South Korea

miles away

Seoul Book Repository

Seoul, South Korea

miles away

Seonjeongneung

Seoul, South Korea

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of South Korea

South Korea

Asia

Places 107
Stories 14

Related Stories and Lists

18 Abandoned Psychiatric Hospitals, and Why They Were Left Behind

List

By Molly McBride Jacobson

Related Places

  • The buildings of Anoka State Hospital.

    Anoka, Minnesota

    Anoka State Hospital

    For over a century, it was a crucial center of mental health treatment and also the source of many local legends.

  • Boston, Massachusetts

    George Parkman House

    The former home of a Boston physician whose murder led to a revolution in forensic science.

  • Sanatorio Durán.

    Potrero Cerrado, Costa Rica

    Sanatorio Durán (Durán Sanatorium)

    This abandoned hospital is one of the most haunted places in Costa Rica.

  • The exterior.

    Valongo, Portugal

    Valongo Sanatorium

    An abandoned tuberculosis hospital said to be haunted by the patients who died within its walls.

  • A hydrotherapy tub in St. Albans Sanatorium.

    Radford, Virginia

    St. Albans Sanatorium

    Paranormal investigators claim this abandoned asylum is the most haunted spot in the eastern U.S.

  • Fort San

    Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan

    Fort San

    The abandoned tuberculosis sanatorium is said to be one of the most haunted places in Canada.

  • A tuberculosis hut converted into a visitor center at Rock Ledge Ranch

    Colorado Springs, Colorado

    Tuberculosis Huts

    Small teepee-like houses built for TB patients have become sheds, studios, and bus stops around Colorado Springs.

  • Abandoned statues on the garden grounds

    Glendale, California

    Rockhaven Sanitarium

    Once a place of peaceful repose, this sanitarium now faces an uncertain future.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.