Sejong M Theater seating guide: 5 ways to pick a seat, from block sizes and sightlines to the upper-floor rake and sound

How many seats does Sejong M Theater have, and how are they split?

Sejong M Theater (세종M씨어터, often written M시어터) at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts has 609 seats: 295 on the first floor and 314 on the second. That total includes 7 wheelchair spaces, and the upper floor actually holds 19 more seats than the lower one. The 609 registered with KOPIS, Korea's national performing-arts database, matches the Sejong Center's own figure exactly.

The first floor has three blocks, A, B and C; the second floor is a single block (2층 A구역). The table below comes from counting the seats on the drawings in the Sejong Center's official seating plan and checking them against the per-floor totals (checked October 2026).

The block-by-block text on the official page differs slightly from these numbers. It gives block B as "173 seats", yet the same text lists row 11 as "seats 5 to 14", which is 10 seats, and the drawing shows exactly that. Block B is therefore 172, and the first floor comes to 61 + 172 + 62 = 295, matching the official per-floor figure. The second-floor text says "313 seats", but the drawing counts to 314, again matching the per-floor figure. The two slips happen to cancel out, so the total is 609 whichever way you count.

The Sejong Center describes M Theater as a mid-sized house built for musicals, plays and opera, where music, dance and acting share the stage. According to the official hall page, the stage machinery, sound, lighting, seating and lobby were all replaced in 2007, when the side balcony seats were added. The Sejong Center's YouTube channel has a short tour of M Theater that gives a feel for the room.

Where is M Theater inside the Sejong Center?

Sejong M Theater is on the second floor of the building to the left of Sejong Chamber Hall, inside the Sejong Center complex. From Gwanghwamun Station, climb the outdoor stairs beside Sejong Lounge; Sejong Chamber Hall is straight ahead, and the building on its left houses the Sejong Arts Academy on the ground floor and M Theater above it. On a first visit, those outdoor stairs are the easiest landmark.

How deep is the first floor, and where are the cross aisles?

The first floor of Sejong M Theater is shallow: the centre block B runs to row 11 and the side blocks A and C to row 13, so even the back row is not far from the stage. Two cross aisles split it, one between rows 2 and 3 and one between rows 8 and 9. In practice the floor falls into three bands: rows 1–2, rows 3–8, and row 9 onwards.

The official seating notes describe the gap between rows 2 and 3 as "about two rows of space" in every block. Between rows 8 and 9 it is about two rows in block B and about three in blocks A and C. Rows 3 and 9, directly behind those aisles, have nothing in front of them, but they are also next to where people walk in and out before and after the show.

Which rows of block B give the best head-on view?

For a straight-on view of both the actors' faces and the whole stage, first-floor block B, rows 3 to 8, is the safest choice. The Sejong Center describes the view from row 8, seat 15 in block B as "the stage is seen head-on". Block B's 172 seats make up more than half of the first floor.

Seat numbers in block B shift by a seat or two from row to row: row 3 runs 6–22, row 4 runs 6–21 and row 5 runs 7–23. The rows are staggered by half a seat, which looks designed so you watch between the heads in front rather than straight into one.

A rough guide to the rows:

• Rows 1–2: closest to the stage. You see the actors up close but may have to turn your head to follow action at either edge.
• Rows 3–8: the heart of the first floor, and the place to start if you want a balance of distance and a full view of the stage.
• Rows 9–11: directly behind the second cross aisle, so the view ahead is open and the whole stage fits in one glance.

Should I avoid the side blocks A and C on the first floor?

No. The side blocks A and C are not seats to avoid outright; what you get depends on the row. Front rows are close but see the stage at an angle, and the angle flattens towards the back, so more of the stage fits in view. The Sejong Center's own descriptions draw the same line, calling the front-row views "close" and the back-row views simply "to the side".

Block A has 61 seats and block C has 62, both in rows 1 to 13. Each row is only 3 to 6 seats long, so an aisle seat is easy to get.

Block C mirrors block A. From row 5, seat 26 the stage is close; from row 12, seat 6 less of it is cut off.

On the sides, pick rows 3–8 to be close and rows 10–13 to take in the whole stage. If a show plays key scenes at one edge of the stage, think twice about a front-row side seat on the opposite side.

Is the second floor too far away or too steep?

The second floor of Sejong M Theater is not far from the stage, since this is a mid-sized hall, but it is clearly raked, so you look down on the stage. Three of the Sejong Center's five second-floor view descriptions include the phrase "seen from above". Heads in front rarely block anything and the choreography on the stage floor reads well, but faces feel further away than from the first floor.

The upper floor has an unusual layout. Row 1 runs 21 seats across the front, then 10 more on each side angle down towards the stage in a U, with 5 further side balcony seats on each side along the walls. Behind an aisle come rows 2 to 11, and rows 3 to 9 are the widest at 29 seats each. The seating plan also marks a pillar (기둥) between seats 11 and 12 in row 11.

Second-floor row 1 has the cleanest sightline, with nobody in front, but the angle changes a lot along the row. Within the 21 front-facing seats, the middle numbers are the ones to aim for.

Row 5, seat 15 is the dead centre of the second floor. The whole proscenium, the lighting and the stage floor fit in one frame, which suits shows with big ensemble numbers and lots of formation changes.

Row 8, seats 4 and 26 sit towards the left and right edges of the back rows. The official text labels both views "to the right", so judge these by where the seat number sits on the plan rather than by the wording. When scanning what is left on the second floor, check the middle of row 1 first, then the middle of rows 3–6 (around seats 14–16), then the middle of rows 7–9, and the row ends last.

Where are the best seats for sound?

There is no official answer: the Sejong Center publishes no seat-by-seat acoustic data for M Theater, so nobody can name its best-sounding seat on the record. The official hall page says only that the sound system was replaced in the 2007 refurbishment and that the room was built for "architectural acoustics". The official photos show the side walls finished in ridged, patterned panels.

For the final choice, the usual rules of thumb apply. The centre line (first-floor block B, middle numbers upstairs) tends to give the most even balance between the left and right speakers, and seats pressed against a side wall can hear one side louder as well as see the stage at an angle. These are general principles, not measurements from this hall.

Where are the wheelchair spaces?

All 7 wheelchair spaces in Sejong M Theater are in row 9 on the first floor: 3 in block A and 4 in block C. There are none on the second floor. Row 9 sits right behind the second cross aisle, which makes for easy access.

The block C wheelchair spaces are numbered 19–22 on the seating drawing but 84–87 in the official text. If you are booking for a wheelchair user, ask for "block C, row 9" rather than a seat number, and confirm with the booking site or the Sejong Center (+82-2-399-1000).

How do parking and the lockers work?

Parking discounts for M Theater audiences apply only at the Sejongno public car park (세종로 공영주차장), where ticket holders can pay a flat 8,000 won for four hours (Sejong Center parking rates page, checked October 2026). You scan your ticket's barcode or QR code at the pay machine, and vehicles over 1.8 m tall cannot enter. The full rate card and how to avoid the queues are in our Sejong Center parking guide.

The Sejong Center publishes a separate walking route from the car park to each hall. By subway, take Line 5 to Gwanghwamun Station, exit 1, 8 or 7, and walk about 200 m towards Gwanghwamun.

The self-service lockers for M Theater are beside the stairs from the first-floor seating up to the second. With a ticket for that day's show, a small locker is free for the first four hours, and the lockers are open from when the lobby opens until 20 minutes after the performance ends (per the official amenities page). For the Grand Theater lockers and family and accessibility tips, see our guide to the Grand Theater's upper floors.

So which seat should I book at Sejong M Theater?

Sejong M Theater is compact, with 11 to 13 rows downstairs and 11 upstairs, so distance is rarely the problem; what decides your experience is head-on versus side, and whether the second floor's downward angle suits the show.

1. For immersion, take first-floor block B, rows 3–8. For the whole stage, take block B rows 9–11, or the middle numbers around row 5 upstairs.
2. In the side blocks A and C, front rows are close and back rows (10–13) take in more of the stage; aisle seats are easy to find.
3. The hall seats 609: 295 downstairs (A 61, B 172, C 62) and 314 upstairs, the same total KOPIS records.

Seat counts, view descriptions and visitor information here were checked in October 2026 against the Sejong Center's official seating plan, its hall, amenities and parking pages, and the venue's KOPIS registration. Photos and seating plans are copyright of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts. Seating can change from one production to the next, so check with the Sejong Center (+82-2-399-1000) or your booking site before you buy.