Goblin Cast Reunites In Gangneung For 10th Anniversary Travel Special

The central cast of Guardian: The Lonely and Great God, better known internationally as Goblin, returned to one of the drama’s most recognizable locations for tvN’s new anniversary program, Goblin 10th Anniversary Trip. The first episode, broadcast on July 4, brought Gong Yoo, Lee Dong Wook, Kim Go Eun, and Yoo In Na together in Gangneung, where the group revisited scenes that helped define the fantasy romance’s long afterlife in Korean pop culture.

The reunion was built less like a formal retrospective and more like a shared trip among colleagues whose screen partnership has stayed unusually vivid for viewers. According to reports on the episode, the four actors visited Jumunjin, recreated memorable moments from the series, and later settled into a meal where the conversation shifted from scenic nostalgia to the more awkward realities of filming a major drama.

One of the most discussed memories came from Gong Yoo and Kim Go Eun, who recalled that one of their romantic scenes was filmed at the very beginning of production. The pair said the kiss scene set among buckwheat flowers, remembered by fans as a later emotional moment between Kim Shin and Ji Eun Tak, had to be shot early because of the flowers’ seasonal timing. That meant the actors were asked to perform intimacy before they had built the natural ease that viewers later associated with the characters.

First-Day Awkwardness Behind A Famous Scene

Gong Yoo described the situation as uncomfortable because the actors were not yet close, while Kim Go Eun explained the practical reason for shooting the scene out of story order. The exchange gave fans a reminder of how polished drama moments often depend on unromantic scheduling decisions. What audiences remember as a seamless emotional beat may have been shaped by weather, flowers, daylight, location access, and actors finding chemistry in real time.

That tension between the finished drama and the work behind it is part of why anniversary specials continue to draw attention. Goblin first aired as a fantasy romance, but its staying power has come from the details viewers return to: the seaside meeting, the solemn humor of the immortal goblin and grim reaper, the tragic love stories, and the chemistry between its main pairings. By returning to Gangneung together, the cast offered a new frame for those memories without remaking the drama itself.

The episode also highlighted Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na’s easy comic rhythm. Yoo In Na shared a first-shoot anecdote about meeting Lee Dong Wook when he had been badly sick, while Kim Go Eun joined in by teasing him about his early impression. Lee Dong Wook responded with mock protest before eventually apologizing for a blunt remark from that period, turning the memory into a lighthearted moment rather than a serious dispute.

A Reunion That Leans On Familiar Chemistry

What stood out across the reported conversations was the cast’s comfort in teasing one another. Kim Go Eun joked freely, Gong Yoo looked back on the production with dry humor, and Lee Dong Wook and Yoo In Na revisited old awkwardness with enough distance for it to become funny. The special’s appeal depends on that balance: it gives fans new anecdotes while preserving the warmth that made the original ensemble memorable.

For international K-drama viewers, the reunion also lands at a moment when legacy dramas are increasingly treated as living cultural properties. Streaming has kept older hits in circulation, while short clips and anniversary content allow scenes to find new audiences years after their first broadcast. A decade on, Goblin remains a reference point for how Korean fantasy romance can blend myth, melodrama, comedy, and visual identity into a globally recognizable package.

The travel-special format gives tvN a low-pressure way to revisit that success. Rather than announcing a sequel or forcing a new story, the program uses real locations and actor conversation to acknowledge how deeply the drama has remained in the public imagination. For fans who know the original lines and locations, seeing the cast return as themselves creates a different kind of payoff: not narrative closure, but shared memory.

The first episode suggests that the anniversary program will continue to trade on candid production stories, gentle teasing, and the cast’s awareness of how much affection still surrounds the drama. It is a reminder that hit K-dramas do not end only when their final episodes air. Some continue through filming sites, fan edits, reunion programs, and the actors’ own evolving relationships with the work that made viewers remember them together.