I (Don’t) Want Candy: Abandoned Korean candy theme park and K-Drama pilgrimage
South Korea has one of the lowest birthrates in the entire world. Faced with this predicament, business establishments, and even the government, are scheming to help Koreans start families. On Jeju Island, often labeled the “Hawaii of Korea,” there are attractions catered towards Korean honeymooners. Loveland, the erotic theme park in Jeju, could be described as “Kama Sutra Reborn into Neon Plaster as a How-To Guide,” with its graphic sculptural representations of various acts. Meanwhile, at Jeju Honeymoon Garden, newlyweds can take a romantic stroll in a fake Parthenon, reminiscent of Ancient Greece.
Before discussing the abandoned candy theme park for couples, Cozy House, it's essential to mention its history. Cozy House used to be the church used for filming the mega K-Drama (Korean Drama) hit, All In. In 2003, All In became a nationwide obsession because of its depiction of a somewhat virtuous nun-like female lead falling for the moral wasteland of a gambling gangster. They eventually fall in love and open a casino in Jeju. Honeymooners in Korea would visit this church in Seopjikoji, making it a romantic K-Drama pilgrimage site complete with packaged tours… until Typhoon Maemi in 2013 demolished the whole thing. (It's important to note that All In was an international sensation in Japan, Ukraine, Taiwan, Romania, Kazakhstan, etc. In Japan, the male lead, Lee Byung-hun, was idolized so much that his Japanese fan meet-and-greet had to take place at the Tokyo Dome.)
Cozy House, the candy theme park for honeymooners, was built upon the demolished remains of the church from All In. Instead of rebuilding the church—since by that time this K-Drama was fading into nostalgia land—why not create a candy theme park? Couples would be greeted by a "Welcome" sign in the shape of a wedding cake as they headed uphill towards Cozy House, which was designed as if Willy Wonka had designed a kawaii gingerbread house on acid. Once inside, the romantic journey began as couples posed next to lollipop bridges, unicorns, a huge heart-shaped arch overlooking the volcanic beach of Seopjikoji where it's located, and eventually ending in the Cozy House Chocolate Tasting Room. Due to various factors, Cozy House was not just abandoned; it was a quick divorce, with the candy boxes filled with chocolates still on the shelves, infested with roaches and flooded floors, and the classic abandoned signature flair of dangerously exposed electrical wires. In pristine Seopjikoji, this brightly hued rejection sits there as a reminder that no one is “All In” for this Cozy House.
