South Koreans are now the second-largest group of foreign visitors to Vietnam, and Da Nang is one of their favourite destinations
5-MIN READ5-MIN ListenDavid D. LeePublished: 4:00pm, 7 Mar 2026At the bustling Han Market in central Da Nang, two Vietnamese vendors tease a middle-aged South Korean tourist by calling him harabeoji, or “grandfather” in Korean.“I’m offended!” he jokes.
The women grab his arms and laugh. “It’s OK, it’s OK.”
Outside the market, storefronts display Korean-language signs. K-pop drifts from restaurants and massage parlours. South Korean tourists crowd the streets in the city centre.
In recent years, visitors have nicknamed the city “Gyeonggi province of Da Nang”, a tongue-in-cheek reference to the densely populated region surrounding Seoul.
