How to find badminton court in Korea?
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If you don’t know the language and don’t know any locals to ask, it is quite difficult to find a place to play badminton in Korea.
Public badminton courts
There are quite many public badminton courts in Korea, especially in Seoul where I am living now. In every district, there is at least one public gymnasium where you can play badminton. Usually you don’t have to book in advance, you can just go there, buy a ticket to enter. The price is quite cheap, around 3000 to 4000 KRW per two hours. The number of players entering the gymnasium is limited so it is first come first serve. Typically one court can accommodate up to 8 players at a time so if there are, for example, 4 badminton courts in the gymnasium, only 4 * 8 = 32 players can enter at the same time. Players will often come in groups to play together, so if you are alone, you might have to ask around to join playing games. But hey, readers of this post, assuming that you are very active in finding information, I hope you are also a bit extrovert, enough to have the courage to ask around to play badminton with!
Here are some public badminton gyms that I have visited in Seoul:
Youngdeungpo Multi-purpose Gym.
Mapo district gymnasium.
The hidden gem: Wausan badminton court.
Hidden gem: Wausan badminton court in Mapo-gu. Why is it a hidden gem? Because it is completely free and very close by Hongdae station. Hongdae is a very popular area for young people in Seoul. I usually visit this court on weekends when I want to practice badminton alone.
Badminton clubs
As a foreigner living in Korea for a long time, I have also joined a local badminton club. I found this club through this Naver site. Its name is Sky Badminton Club and we are based in Ahyeon Elementary School. It is quite common in Korea that almost every elementary/middle/high school has a badminton gymnasium and local badminton clubs will rent the gymnasium. I have never seen any school whose gymnasium is not rented by any badminton club so far! It is quite strict to invite a guest to join a session in the club. My club only allows 4 guests per session and the invitation has to be sent by a club member. The fee for each guest is 4000 KRW per session. The guest has to respect the club rules and the club members: no smoking, no alcohol (because the club is based in a school), bring your own shuttlecocks and rackets, wearing badminton shoes, etc. That is why I mentioned in the very beginning of this post that it is quite difficult to find a place to play badminton in Korea if you don’t know any locals to ask!
A badminton club I found in Jeju island.
When I have business trip to other cities in Korea, I also try to find local badminton clubs to practice. The tip is to search for the name of the city + “badminton club” in Korean on Naver. You can always find the phone number of of the 총무 (general manager) of the club and call him/her to ask if you can join the session as a guest.
I am proud to say that I have been hosting several foreign guests at the club: Julie from USA, Toru from Japan, Anthony’s family from Australia, Zheng also from Australia, and many friends from Vietnam. I still keep in touch with them and indeed met some of them again in their home countries after they left Korea!
Written on May 31, 2026