에 있었어

was at/in

→ 에
phrase Uncommon #13,642
was at/in 에 marks the location; the place comes before this phrase. This is a casual past-tense form.
KO: 어제 집에 있었어.
EN: I was at home yesterday.

우린 지난주에 호주에 있었어.

We were in Australia last week.

며칠 전 넌 융리에 있었어 어떤 남자와 같이 있었지

A few days ago, you were in Yung-ri. You were with some man, weren’t you?

— 포풍추영 (2025)

얼마나 많은 사람들이 거기에 있었어?

How many people were there?

지상낙원에 있었어

I was in paradise.

— 달콤한 인생 (1960)

저것도 대본에 있었어?

Was that in the script, too?

— 데드 돈 다이 (2019)