Love lock bridges and gates aren’t all that uncommon. You’ll find them in Belgium, France, Germany, Argentina, Finland, Canada, Italy… it seems the practice of choosing a lock to symbolize a special relationship, then fastening that lock to a public structure has really caught on. It’s made its way to South Korea, too.

At the N Seoul Tower on Namsan Mountain in central Seoul, a less traditional type of love-locking is happening. Seven “trees” at the base of the tower are being festooned with thousands of colorful locks.

One of them is not like the others. The relationship it represents is that between cache owner and cache finder.

Fair warning: this cache is not a quickie. Unless you’re very lucky or have insider information, it’s going to take some time to figure out which of these locks contains the cache. Needle-in-a-haystack caches aren’t for everyone, but if you enjoy that sort of challenge this cache should be on your bucket list.

Words with the Cache Owner

Geocaching HQ: What inspired to you to hide a sneaky lock cache in this spot?

bluesky61: Six years ago I attended “10 Years! Event” for my first event geocache. I remember that there was a disabled cache in the nearby area. I thought that there should be placed a very nice geocache, because the N tower is one of the most renowned landmark in the city of Seoul. Later I found the disabled cache had gone. I wanted to make a very pleasant-to-find geocache and gave it a thought over and over. And finally, I was able to make this love lock cache. It was very good to hide among the great many locks and the lock trees.

Geocaching HQ: What advice do you have for people looking for this cache?

bluesky61: There are so many love locks, and also so many muggles around. However, you don’t need to fear. Nobody would think you are a geocacher looking for a cache. They would think you like one of them examining various kinds of different love locks and the names on them. Just blend in with them. Yes, that will do!

Geocaching HQ: Is there anything you’d like to share with the geocaching community in general?

bluesky61: I think geocaching is a game of consideration of others. All the activities including placing a good cache, exchanging trade items, finding and replacing the caches are based on the thoughts how we can please our visitors to find the cache and have them enjoy the processes to a find. I think that’s why geocaching [is] growing and attracts muggles to become philosophers.

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