Seoul in Minhwa Style: AI Travel Poster + Full Prompt
This is the first Korean city in my AI travel poster series: Seoul, drawn in the style of minhwa, Korean folk painting. Below you'll find the full prompt, a few tips for changing it, and how to visit the real places in the poster.
The poster above is AI-generated.
What is minhwa?
Minhwa are Korean folk paintings that ordinary households hung at home in the Joseon era. They are bright, a little humorous and full of symbols. The tiger and magpie pair is the most famous: the tiger was believed to keep bad luck away, and the magpie brings good news. Peonies stand for wealth and honor.
The full prompt
A 1950s-60s mid-century travel poster of SEOUL, KOREA, painted in the style of Korean minhwa folk painting. Foreground: a friendly minhwa tiger and a magpie on a pine branch, peony flowers, a pojangmacha street-food tent glowing with warm lantern light. Middle ground: Gwanghwamun Gate and Gyeongbokgung Palace roofs with dancheong patterns, Bukchon hanok rooftops. Background: Namsan with N Seoul Tower, Han River bridges at dusk, layered stylized Bukhansan peaks. Flat colors, bold ink outlines, mineral-pigment palette (cinnabar red, malachite green, azurite blue, ochre, cream), subtle hanji paper texture, limited 6-color screen-print look. Large bold retro title "SEOUL" at the top, small "KOREA" at the bottom. Vertical 4:5 composition, no photorealism, no real faces, no logos.
Tips for changing it
- To draw another city, swap the landmarks: Busan (Haeundae Beach, Gamcheon Culture Village) or Gyeongju (Bulguksa Temple, the royal tomb mounds).
- Keep "flat colors, bold ink outlines, mineral-pigment palette" to keep the minhwa feel.
- If people come out too realistic, add "folk-art style figures, no realistic faces".
Visiting for real
Gyeongbokgung Palace and Gwanghwamun Gate sit in the middle of the poster. Gyeongbokgung was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty, and you can walk there from the subway.
Gwanghwamun Gate in daylight (April 2024). Photo: *Youngjin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Subway: Line 3 to Gyeongbokgung Station, Exit 5 (about a 2-minute walk). Or Line 5 to Gwanghwamun Station, Exit 2, or Line 3 to Anguk Station, Exit 1 (about 6 minutes on foot).
- Closed: every Tuesday. If a public holiday falls on a Tuesday, the palace opens that day and closes the next day instead.
- Hours: Jan–Feb 9:00–17:00, Mar–May 9:00–18:00, Jun–Aug 9:00–18:30, Sep–Oct 9:00–18:00, Nov–Dec 9:00–17:00. Last entry is one hour before closing.
- Tickets: 3,000 won for adults (19–64). Free for ages 18 and under, 65 and over, anyone wearing hanbok, and on Culture Day (the last Wednesday of each month).
- Hanbok rule: foreigners in hanbok get in free too, but you need both a top (jeogori) and a bottom (skirt or trousers). A hanbok top with jeans, or a T-shirt with a hanbok skirt, doesn't count.
- Free English tours: 11:00, 13:30 and 15:30, starting at the information center inside Heungnyemun Gate. Groups under 10 can just join without booking.
Exit 5 at Gyeongbokgung Station, Line 3 (January 2023). Photo: Mobius6, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Heungnyemun Gate. Free English tours start at the information center just inside (June 2024). Photo: Basile Morin, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Visitors in hanbok get in free (autumn 2024). Photo: Alexander London, Pexels (Pexels License).
This autumn (2026)
- October 29 – November 15: free admission during the Korea Grand Festival (Tuesdays still closed).
- Until October 31: entry to the stone terrace in front of Geunjeongjeon Hall is restricted.
Official site: Royal Palaces and Tombs Center – Admission Information
Last checked: October 10, 2026, on the official site. Hours and rules can change, so check again before you go.
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