Where Is the Library in 'Love Alarm'?

From the Netflix Korean series 'Love Alarm'

Ah, South Korea! Land of K-pop, Galaxy smartphones, and—love alarm apps? 

This is the premise of the swoon-worthy Korean drama series "Love Alarm," the story of a high school girl whose life is turned upside down by the arrival of a strange mobile app: It's capable of notifying users which people are attracted to them! Think Tinder, but on steroids. 

The K-drama was shot across Seoul, but one filming location that keeps fans coming to the South Korean capital is Ewha Womans University (이화여자대학교) in Seodaemun-gu. This institution, founded by Methodist missionary Mary F. Scranton, has been standing for over a century, long before Netflix was born. 

But before there was "Squid Game," "All of Us Are Dead," and "The Glory," there was "Love Alarm." It is the first South Korean original for the streaming giant, based on the webtoon of the same name by Chon Kye-young.

A can't-miss spot at the university is the building that stood for the library on the show. The indoor library scenes were filmed at Sogang University a kilometer down south, but the façade is that of the Welch-Ryang Auditorium. 

From the main university gate (near the Ewha Womans University subway station), walk northwest, to the left of the Ewha Cultural Complex (a photo spot famous for its gorgeous sunken slopes and high walls), and you'll find a long stairway leading up to the auditorium. (This stairway is not to be confused with the beautiful, bleacher-like steps at the end of the complex.) 

Imagine you’re Hwang Sun-oh (Song Kang) climbing up the stairs to the auditorium, which at one point was one of the largest concert halls in Asia. 

Can you imagine watching one of your K-idols here? Now that would set off love alarms for sure.

Chon Kye-young has always been at home with technology, so a story like "Love Alarm" would be right up her alley. She was one of the earliest adopters of Photoshop and 3D modeling among South Korean cartoonists. And now because of arthritis in her hands, tech has come to her aid once more. 

By using voice recognition technology, she could instruct her computer to help her create the webtoons without the use of a mouse.

Who knows what the future will bring? All we know is that "Love Alarm" has its place in K-drama history.