Kangwon Land opens Hongdae pop-up to shed casino-only image

Pop-up store in Hongdae aims to reframe Kangwon Land's public image

Resort facilities take center stage over gambling associations

Parent brand replaces separate subsidiary marketing

Character from beloved comic 'Dooly the Little Dinosaur' anchors campaign

Strategy targets younger audiences through familiar cultural touchstone

The entrance to the "2026 Pop-up Store in Hongdae — Ko Gil-dong's Unfamiliar Kangwon Land" [Kim Myung-sang]

"When you think of Kangwon Land, you probably think of the casino. But it's actually a four-season leisure complex with a large water park, a premium resort and even a ski slope. Has that cleared up some of the misunderstanding?"

That was the pitch staff were delivering to visitors Tuesday at the "2026 Pop-up Store in Hongdae — Ko Gil-dong's Unfamiliar Kangwon Land," held on the first and second floors of Star Square in Hongdae, Mapo-gu, Seoul. Built around Ko Gil-dong, a character from the comic "Dooly the Little Dinosaur," the event aims to chip away at the public perception of Kangwon Land as a gambling venue and instead highlight its resort facilities and role as a public institution.

A view of "Blue Sky," the infinity pool at High1 Resort [High1 Resort]

Kangwon Land had long kept its casino-focused parent brand separate from its leisure arm, High1 Resort, given the negative associations surrounding the gambling industry. After repeated public-institution assessments called for stronger brand recognition for the parent company itself, it shifted to a unified marketing approach. Buoyed by roughly 10,000 visitors to its first pop-up, "Coal Mine Building 702," held in Seongsu-dong, Seoul, last year, the company organized another urban pop-up this year. The initiative aims to communicate the value of its social contribution programs while lowering the psychological barrier many people feel toward the company.

A Ko Gil-dong photo zone inside the "2026 Pop-up Store in Hongdae — Ko Gil-dong's Unfamiliar Kangwon Land" [Kim Myung-sang]

The event draws on a cultural shift in how younger Koreans view Ko Gil-dong. Once seen as the villain who tormented the protagonist of "Dooly the Little Dinosaur," Ko has been reappraised in recent years among younger audiences as a responsible breadwinner who housed and fed a household of uninvited guests without complaint. Kangwon Land said it designed the event around that reappraisal to spotlight aspects of the company overshadowed by its casino — including its water park, ski resort and support programs for former coal-mining communities — and to present itself as a company that contributes to the public good.

"Young people are reinterpreting Ko Gil-dong as a responsible figure who was unfairly misunderstood, and that aligned with the direction Kangwon Land is taking in reshaping its corporate image," said Ahn Hyun-suk, head of Kangwon Land's brand communications team. "We designed the space so that visitors who came in expecting a gambling facility would encounter healthy leisure offerings and public-interest activities, and leave with their preconceptions challenged."

The "High1 Water World" event zone inside the "2026 Pop-up Store in Hongdae — Ko Gil-dong's Unfamiliar Kangwon Land" [Kim Myung-sang]

To manage crowd flow and keep the experience running smoothly, the pop-up admits visitors in groups of about 10 at a time. A staff member on site said queue numbers surpassed 350 during the event, reflecting strong public interest.

Each visitor receives a "field report" and works through a series of missions across the store's zones, collecting stamps along the way. In the first zone, visitors stomp on footpads to generate a simulated three-meter wave. After passing through a ski-slope photo zone and reaching the "High1 Tower" section, they must shout inside a soundproofed booth and exceed 85 decibels to earn their next stamp. Visitors can also pull one of Ko Gil-dong's advice cards from envelopes pinned to the wall.

An event zone inside the "2026 Pop-up Store in Hongdae — Ko Gil-dong's Unfamiliar Kangwon Land" [Kim Myung-sang]

"I came in expecting slot machines or gaming facilities, but it was actually set up around leisure attractions like a wave pool and a ski slope — not what I anticipated at all," one visitor said.

The fourth zone, themed around a coal-mine culture museum, tasks visitors with balancing a scale within 30 seconds — placing figurines of the Dooly family on one side and props symbolizing regional community support on the other. "The idea came from the parallel between Ko Gil-dong, who shoulders the weight of a household, and Kangwon Land, which has carried the weight of the local economy," a staff member explained.

The true-or-false quiz zone inside the "2026 Pop-up Store in Hongdae — Ko Gil-dong's Unfamiliar Kangwon Land" [Kim Myung-sang]

The fifth and final zone features a true-or-false quiz on the legal basis for Kangwon Land's establishment and how it operates. It highlights that the company runs as a market-type public enterprise on a self-sustaining basis, funded by its own revenue rather than taxes, and that it has maintained a professional addiction-management system for 25 years through the Korea Center on Gambling Problems, established in 2001.

Visitors who complete all the missions are entered into a prize draw for rewards including accommodation vouchers for High1 Resort, admission tickets to High1 Water World and beach towels. The pop-up runs daily from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m. through Sunday at Star Square in Hongdae, Mapo-gu, Seoul.

"Through this urban pop-up store, we plan to keep expanding our touchpoints with younger generations and broaden the perception of Kangwon Land beyond casinos toward a non-casino integrated resort and a public co-prosperity model," said Kim Young-ho, head of Kangwon Land's public relations office. "We intend to make urban communication spaces and character marketing a regular practice, driving long-term renewal of the corporate brand."

terry@heraldcorp.com