ARKO and Daehakro Arts Theatre: seating, sightlines and parking

ARKO Arts Theater (아르코예술극장) and Daehakro Arts Theatre (대학로예술극장) share an operator and a neighbourhood but are two separate buildings, one street apart. Both are about a five-minute walk from Hyehwa Station exit 2 on Line 4, and both charge the same parking rates — but their car parks work very differently.

What is the difference between ARKO Arts Theater and Daehakro Arts Theatre?

Both are run by the Arts Council Korea, but they occupy different buildings. ARKO Arts Theater opened on 1 April 1981 in a red-brick building designed by the architect Kim Swoo-geun, at 7 Daehak-ro 8-gil, Jongno-gu. Daehakro Arts Theatre opened in 2009 as a mid-sized public theatre at 17 Daehak-ro 10-gil. Check the theatre name printed on your ticket before you set off.

KOPIS, Korea's performing-arts registry, lists them as two separate venues with different halls:

Which seats have the best view at the ARKO Arts Theater Grand Hall?

The ARKO Grand Hall seats 600 — 447 on level 1 and 153 on level 2. Level 1 is split into four blocks, 가/나/다/라, and block 가, the central one facing the stage, has the best sightlines. Block 나 is the left side, block 다 the right, and block 라 sits at the very back of level 1.

Level 2 is not the compromise it looks like. The stage carries a 12-metre revolving stage with full 360° rotation plus a separate orchestra pit, so productions that use the revolve — and dance or opera, where you need to read movement across the whole stage — often play better from the 153 seats upstairs. Sit in block 가 on level 1 if you want to see faces.

Six wheelchair spaces are designated on level 1, and seats 1–17 in block 라 convert to wheelchair spaces. A separate family area at the rear of level 1, the 보금자리 객석, takes up to 12 people including infants under seven, by advance reservation only.

Does the Daehakro Arts Theatre Grand Hall seat 458 or 504?

Both figures are official, and they disagree by 46 seats. The ARKO / Daehakro Arts Theatre website states 458 seats — 296 on level 1 plus 162 on level 2. KOPIS registers the same hall (FC002633-01) at 504. The seat map you will actually book from follows the 458-seat layout on the venue's own site, so treat 458 as the figure that matters for a visit.

Level 1 is divided into blocks A, B and C; level 2 into D and E. Block B faces the stage squarely and has the best view, and row 1 of block B converts to wheelchair spaces — 8 of the 296 level-1 seats are wheelchair spaces. Blocks D and E on level 2 are split left and right, so the view is slightly angled rather than central.

How many seats do the two Small Halls have?

The official site publishes no seat count for either Small Hall. Both are black-box rooms whose stage and seating are rebuilt for each production. KOPIS does hold numbers: 110 seats for the ARKO Small Hall and 132 for the Daehakro Small Hall. Read those as the size of a standard layout, and check the production's own seat map when you book.

Each building has more registered halls than the Grand and Small pair. ARKO has Studio Darak (25 seats) and Daehakro has Studio Haneul (100 seats), used for staged readings and workshop performances. If your ticket says 스튜디오, neither Grand nor Small Hall seat map applies.

One more thing: Hall 3 at Daehakro Arts Theatre (163 seats) is closed. KOPIS flags it as closed, and the space is separately registered — also as closed — under FC001807, 작은극장 광야. Older guides still send people to Hall 3; do not follow them.

How much does parking cost, and how is it charged?

If you are attending a performance, it is 3,000 won for up to four hours. That is far better than the general rate of 2,000 won for the first 30 minutes, so bring your ticket to the payment machine. The rates are identical at both theatres.

Should I drive there?

If you drive an SUV, you cannot park at Daehakro Arts Theatre. Per the theatres' official FAQ, its car park is a mechanical tower system that will not accept SUVs or large vehicles. The ARKO car park is not mechanical but is very small, and the theatre explicitly asks visitors to use public transport.

Both theatres state that a missed performance caused by parking or traffic is not refundable or exchangeable. If you must drive, check a nearby public car park in advance; live occupancy for Seoul's public car parks is at parking.seoul.go.kr.

How do I get there by subway or bus?

Both theatres are roughly five minutes on foot from exit 2 of Hyehwa Station on Line 4. By bus, get off at 혜화역·서울대병원입구, 혜화역3번출구, or 혜화역·마로니에공원/혜화역2번출구.

These are the routes on the theatres' official directions page. Many guides copy only the trunk routes, but branch route 2112 and the Gogung Circular bus stop here too.

In short

1. Seats: in both Grand Halls the central level-1 block is the answer — 가 at ARKO, B at Daehakro. ARKO's level 2 is actually the better choice for anything using the revolving stage.
2. Seat counts: ARKO's 600 is consistent across both sources, but Daehakro's Grand Hall is 458 officially and 504 in KOPIS. Neither Small Hall has an official count at all; KOPIS records 110 and 132.
3. Parking: 3,000 won for four hours with a ticket, but Daehakro's mechanical car park refuses SUVs and ARKO's is tiny. Hyehwa exit 2 is the stress-free option.

Schedules and registry details for both venues are on their pages: ARKO Arts Theater and Daehakro Arts Theatre.

---

※ Seat counts, parking rates and bus routes were checked in September 2026 against the ARKO / Daehakro Arts Theatre official site (theater.arko.or.kr) and the KOPIS venue registrations (FC002632, FC002633). The description of how each car park operates (mechanical tower, small capacity) follows the theatres' official FAQ. The Grand Hall auditorium photograph is courtesy of the Korea Stage Sound Association (무대음향협회). For anything that changes often, call the box office on 02-3668-0007 (Tue–Sun 10:00–19:00, closed Mondays, lunch 12:00–13:00).