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There’s a version of Seoul that doesn’t appear in any guidebook. The unmarked pojangmacha tucked behind a convenience store. The tea house in Ikseondong that locals actually go to, not the Instagram one. The vendor at Gwanjang Market who knows exactly which bindaetteok stall has the shorter queue and the better batter.
Getting to that version of Seoul usually requires either a lot of time or knowing someone who already lives there. Oh My Oppa launched in 2018 on the idea that it should require neither — and after a few years away, it’s back.
Some Background
When Oh My Oppa first launched in April 2018, it got picked up by ABC News, Korea Herald, and TTG Asia within days. The concept was straightforward but genuinely new: match international visitors with Korean locals — “oppas” — for small-group neighborhood walks around Seoul. Not scripted, not bus-based. Just a few hours with someone who actually knows where they’re going and why.
One writer who did the tour described it as: “coming to Seoul and reuniting with a friend who lives here and wants to show you around.”
The platform went quiet during the COVID years — inbound tourism to Korea essentially stopped, and a small-group walking experience was one of the last things that could operate. The site now invites visitors to “Discover Korea with oppas again,” which is an honest framing. It’s the same idea, with some practical updates.
What’s Different This Time
The current version runs via web at ohmyoppa.net and through their mobile app, which handles real-time booking and instant confirmation. That’s a real improvement over the original Kakao Chat booking flow — shorter trips where you’re planning a few days out rather than weeks ahead are now much more workable.
There’s also an AI guide feature built into the platform — a personalized travel planning assistant for before or between sessions. The original service was human-first, and that’s still true, but the AI layer gives you something to work with before you arrive.
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What the Experiences Look Like
Experiences center on a few of Seoul’s older neighborhoods — Ikseondong, Insadong, and Gwanjang Market. These aren’t random choices. They’re places where there’s the most gap between what first-time visitors see and what’s actually there.
Ikseondong sits just north of Insadong and is one of Seoul’s better-kept secrets: a lane of converted hanok buildings with independent cafes, small galleries, and workshops that most tourists walk right past. Gwanjang Market is the kind of place where having a guide who knows the layout and the vendors changes the visit entirely. One guide at Gwanjang speaks Mandarin, which makes it more accessible for Chinese-speaking visitors who’ve run into the language barrier at one of Seoul’s most food-dense markets.
The format keeps groups small — originally one to three guests per oppa. Guides are selected for English fluency, genuine local knowledge, and familiarity with the areas they cover.
Who This Is For
It’s most useful for people who’ve already done the main attractions and want something more specific, or first-timers who want to skip the tourist circuit entirely and go somewhere real on day one. If your goal is to hit major sites efficiently, a conventional city tour covers that better. But if you want to understand what a neighborhood actually feels like — why people who live there go to the places they go — this format tends to deliver that better than anything else.
Solo travelers get particular value out of it. Navigating a new city alone is fine, but having one person who can translate context — not just language, but why something is the way it is — changes what you take away from a place.
How to Book
Bookings go through ohmyoppa.net or the Oh My Oppa mobile app. The app supports real-time availability and instant confirmation. Oh My Oppa also appears on KKday if you’re already using that platform for other Korea activities.
If you’re sorting out how to get around Seoul more broadly — from the airport, between neighborhoods, or across the city — the Seoul Subway guide covers transport logistics in detail.
Oh My Oppa is an independently operated platform. Korean Feed has no affiliate relationship with this service — it’s included here because it’s a genuinely interesting option for visitors who want something beyond the standard tour format.
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Sem Kim has lived and worked in Seoul for over a decade. He writes about the practical side of navigating Korea as a foreigner — immigration, transport, local services, and the parts of daily life that guidebooks tend to skip. His work draws on firsthand experience moving through Korean bureaucracy, neighborhoods, and systems that aren’t always designed with international visitors in mind.