Kim Boknam Beer (김복남맥주 영종하늘도시점) is a neighbourhood hof in Yeongjong Sky City, 18 minutes by taxi from Terminal 1, and a glass of draft costs ₩4,500. It does not open until 17:00, so it is no use to you on a daytime layover. And the number that decides your night is not the closing time — it is 00:28, the last train from Yeongjong station back towards the airport.
That gap is the whole point of this guide. The bar runs to 02:00 on weeknights. The train stops well before that. Most people work out the first half of the trip and not the second.
Should you even leave the airport for a beer?
Only on an overnight layover, and only if you have already cleared immigration. Foreign-national queues at Incheon usually run about 30 minutes, but they went past an hour and twenty minutes at peak in summer 2026, and that hour comes out of your evening rather than the airline’s schedule. If you are weighing the whole question, the rules on leaving Incheon Airport during a layover, and the time each step actually takes, covers the arrival side in full.
A hof (호프) is the Korean version of a pub: draft beer, a table you sit at all evening, and fried things to go with it. Nobody eats a proper meal here. If you want dinner first and a drink after, what to do on an overnight layover at Incheon Airport, hour by hour, lays out the evening in order.
How do you get to Yeongjong Sky City from the terminals?
A taxi from Terminal 1 takes 18 minutes and the meter reads about ₩14,100. From Terminal 2 it is 20 minutes and about ₩18,200, because Terminal 2 sits 5.6km further out on the same road. These are route-service estimates checked in September 2026, and real traffic moves them a minute or two either way.
| Route | Time, door to door | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Terminal 1 → Sky City, taxi | 18 min | about ₩14,100 |
| Terminal 2 → Sky City, taxi | 20 min | about ₩18,200 |
| Terminal 1 → Sky City, bus 202 from stand 13B | 46 min | ₩1,500 |
| Terminal 1 → Yeongjong station (AREX), then taxi | 11 min + 10 min | ₩1,300 + about ₩7,400 |
Bus 202 is the cheap way in at ₩1,500, but it takes 46 minutes including the walks at both ends, and on the way back you are relying on a night service nobody can promise you. For a one-off evening the taxi is worth the money. A single transit card covers the bus and the train if you would rather not think about fares — how to buy and top up a T-money card at Incheon Airport explains where to get one in the terminal.
What time does the last train back to the airport leave?
The last AREX train from Yeongjong station towards the airport leaves at 00:28, and it runs at that time every day of the week, weekends included. Yeongjong station is the closest station to Sky City — about 10 minutes and ₩7,400 by taxi from the bar — so you need to be leaving your table by roughly a quarter past midnight to make it.
The bar is open long past that. Kim Boknam Beer opens at 17:00 every day. It closes at 02:00 Monday to Friday with last orders at 01:00, and at 03:00 on Saturday and Sunday nights with last orders at 02:00. So there is a window of an hour and a half to three hours where the place is still serving and the train has gone.
| Mon–Fri nights | Sat & Sun nights | |
|---|---|---|
| Opens | 17:00 | 17:00 |
| Last order | 01:00 | 02:00 |
| Closes | 02:00 | 03:00 |
| Last train, Yeongjong → airport | 00:28 | 00:28 |
| Leave the table by | about 00:15 | about 00:15 |
Staying later is not a disaster, it is just a taxi — about ₩14,100 back to Terminal 1, the same as the way out. Decide which one you are doing before the second drink, not after. If your flight leaves from the other terminal, add the transfer: Terminal 1 and Terminal 2 are separate buildings with a shuttle between them, and you cannot walk.
What do you order, and what does it cost?
The house draft is ₩4,500 and is listed as 눈꽃생맥주 — “snow-flower draft”, for the thick white head it comes with. You order from a tablet at the table rather than by calling a server over.
The food is anju (안주) — dishes built to be eaten with drink rather than as a meal. Prices from the restaurant’s Naver Place listing in September 2026: 인생먹태 (dried pollack, ₩14,900), 불닭발 (spicy chicken feet, ₩13,900), 울트라치즈계란말이 (cheese rolled omelette, ₩11,900), 불향가득 우삼겹떡볶이 (tteokbokki with beef brisket, ₩12,900). Chips come out of the fryer in a metal basket with ketchup on the side.
Two things that catch visitors out, both of them normal everywhere in Korea. The bowl of macaroni crisps that lands on your table before you order is free, and so is the water. And there is no tipping — no service charge is added either, so the number on the bill is the number you pay. Cards work, including foreign ones.
The front is a folding glass wall that opens onto the pavement, so in warm weather the terrace tables are the ones to take. In winter that same wall is shut and it is an ordinary indoor bar.
What do you do with your suitcase?
Leave it at the airport. Staffed storage counters run 24 hours at both terminals — ZIMCARRY on the third floor of Terminal 1 near check-in N, and Hanjin on the third floor of Terminal 2 near public Exit 1. Hanjin charges ₩5,000 for up to four hours for a bag under 180cm, and ₩5,000 to ₩7,000 for up to 24 hours depending on size. Where to leave luggage at Incheon Airport, with counter locations and prices has the full tariff.
Wheeling a suitcase into a hof is possible but pointless. The tables are close together and you will spend the evening moving it.
Is it worth going?
Go if you are stuck at Incheon overnight, you have already eaten, and the idea of another four hours under terminal lighting is worse than a ₩28,200 round trip in a taxi. It is a good local bar — open front, cold draft at ₩4,500, food that arrives fast — and the point is that it is an ordinary evening in a Korean neighbourhood rather than an airport one.
Do not go if your layover is in daylight: the doors are shut until 17:00 and there is nothing to see in Sky City before then. Do not go if you are counting money, because the taxis cost three times what you will drink. And do not go if you are the sort of person who will lose track of the time, because the 00:28 train is the only cheap way back and after it the only option is another ₩14,100.
Practical details
Kim Boknam Beer, Yeongjong Sky City branch. The address is 인천 영종구 자연대로 47 스타타워 118호 — paste that into Naver Map rather than typing the English, and search the name as 김복남맥주 영종하늘도시점. Naver Map is the app that works in Korea for directions and same-day opening hours; Google Maps will show you where a place is but will not route you there. Hours change, so check the listing on the day.
Questions people ask
Can I get a beer near Incheon Airport in the afternoon?
Not at this one. Kim Boknam Beer opens at 17:00 seven days a week. An afternoon layover needs a restaurant rather than a hof.
How do I get back to Incheon Airport after midnight?
By taxi, for about ₩14,100 to Terminal 1. The last AREX train from Yeongjong station towards the airport leaves at 00:28, and there is no later one.
How much is a beer in Yeongjong?
Draft at Kim Boknam Beer is ₩4,500 a glass as listed in September 2026. Anju dishes to go with it run from about ₩10,900 to ₩15,900.
Do I need cash at a Korean hof?
No. Cards are accepted everywhere in Korea, foreign ones included, and no tip or service charge is added to the bill.
Is it far from Terminal 2?
Yeongjong Sky City is 20 minutes and about ₩18,200 by taxi from Terminal 2, against 18 minutes and ₩14,100 from Terminal 1. The times are close but Terminal 2 is 5.6km further away, which is where the fare difference comes from.
