National Museum of Korea

The first museum

Korea's first museum was founded in 1909

Emperor Sunjong established Korea's first museum, the Imperial Household Museum, in 1909. Its collections, with those of a museum run under Japanese rule, became the nucleus of the National Museum when South Korea regained independence in 1945.

Busan

During the Korean War its 20,000 pieces were moved to Busan

During the Korean War the museum's 20,000 pieces were safely moved to Busan to avoid destruction. In 1986 it moved to the Jungangcheong, the former Japanese General Government Building, where it stayed until that building's demolition in 1995.

20,000pieces moved safely to Busan during the Korean War

Yongsan

The museum stands on a former golf course and was held up by a helipad

The museum stands on what used to be a golf course, part of the Yongsan Garrison, the central command of the United States Forces in Korea. The US Army returned part of the land in 1992. A helipad delayed the opening until it was relocated in 2005.

The collection

The collection holds over 310,000 pieces

The museum contains over 310,000 pieces, with about 15,000 on display at one time across six permanent galleries. It is the sixth largest museum in the world in terms of floor space.

310,000pieces in the collection

Built to protect

The main building was built to withstand an earthquake

The main building was built to withstand a magnitude 6.0 Richter Scale earthquake, and the display cases have shock-absorbent platforms. An imported natural lighting system uses sunlight instead of artificial lights.