Guests collect across the Gyeongcheonsa Temple Pagoda on the primary ground of the Nationwide Museum of Korea in central Seoul, Dec. 9, 2025. Newsis
Biting chilly and robust winds did little to discourage the crowds streaming into the Nationwide Museum of Korea (NMK) in Yongsan District, central Seoul on Jan. 7. Households with kids on winter break mingled with senior {couples}, whereas clusters of youngsters arrived in teams of three or 4.
Wherever this reporter went, together with the museum retailers, the ambiance was dense with folks. “How is it this crowded on a weekday?” one customer exclaimed, scanning the packed corridor in disbelief.
The scene was not a one-off second, however the continuation of a pattern that took form final yr. Certainly, 2025 proved a banner yr for the NMK, the nation’s largest state-run museum. For the primary time since its opening in 1945, it welcomed over 6.5 million guests final yr — an all-time excessive and almost double the quantity recorded the earlier yr.
Observers be aware that standard tradition has helped gasoline this unprecedented rise. The viral success of “KPop Demon Hunters,” which wove conventional Korean artwork and folklore into its visible universe, coincided with a broader shift, notably amongst youthful generations, towards seeing Korean heritage not as one thing dusty or antiquated, however as trendy, even hip.
But consultants emphasize that the surge didn’t materialize in a single day. Fairly, it was constructed on years of quieter, inside modifications on the museum.
New approaches to presenting the everlasting assortment, such because the “Room of Quiet Contemplation” — a darkened chamber displaying simply two gilt-bronze pensive Bodhisattva statues — have struck a chord with guests, as have immersive digital installations. Excessive-profile exhibitions like these that includes works from the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s assortment additionally helped draw audiences, stated Yang Ji-yeon, a professor of curatorial research and artwork administration at Dongduk Ladies’s College.
Two gilt-bronze pensive Bodhisattva statues from the sixth and seventh centuries are displayed throughout the Nationwide Museum of Korea’s “Room of Quiet Contemplation.” Yonhap
“COVID-19 was one other main turning level,” stated Choi Seon-ju, a professor of museology at Chung-Ang College. “When folks may now not go to in particular person, the museum put monumental effort into determining how its holdings and packages may nonetheless attain audiences on-line.”
The previous director of the Gyeongju Nationwide Museum pointed to a different issue that has reshaped the establishment’s enchantment: museum merchandise. Branded as MU:DS, the merchandise impressed by motifs from Korea’s cultural heritage and folklore steadily constructed a web-based following through the years amongst youthful shoppers, lengthy earlier than the present increase. In 2025, gross sales reached a record-breaking 40 billion gained ($27.2 million).
The surge additionally displays a shift on the guests’ aspect. Korean audiences as we speak convey the next stage of cultural literacy and a stronger urge for food for artwork than up to now.
“Many individuals of their 30s and 40s have experiences finding out or dwelling overseas,” stated Kim Soo-jin, an artwork historian and analysis professor at Sungkyunkwan College. “They’ve been to locations just like the Louvre, the Metropolitan Museum of Artwork and the British Museum. And a few are solely now realizing they by no means actually took the time to discover what we have now in our residence turf.”
Guests browse souvenirs on the Nationwide Museum of Korea’s reward store, Dec. 30, 2025. Yonhap
What’s subsequent?
If the current surge in guests is to change into greater than a fleeting second, what duties lie forward for the museum?
Consultants stress that sustained progress will rely upon coordinated efforts throughout a number of fronts, from assortment administration and exhibition planning to deeper integration with the town’s tourism infrastructure.
On the most elementary stage, along with specializing in buying key artifacts, the museum must strengthen its capability to take care of the collections it already holds. Of the roughly 440,000 objects in its care, round 80,000 at present require conservation remedy. But the variety of educated conservators stays restricted.
Equally urgent is the problem of storytelling: the right way to reanimate the identical everlasting holdings in ways in which really feel resonant and significant to up to date audiences.
With an annual acquisition price range capped at 4 billion gained, the NMK can’t depend on always replenishing galleries with new objects.
“The actual query isn’t the right way to purchase extra, however the right way to present the identical works in another way — the right way to interpret them in ways in which hook up with our present worldview,” Kim stated.
Choi echoed the necessity for a long-term strategy. “Even with 6.5 million guests, there are nonetheless many individuals in Korea who’ve by no means visited the museum in any respect,” he stated. “Proper now, a big share of tourists are repeat guests. The essential process lies in reaching those that’ve by no means come.”
With regards to particular exhibitions, he added, the NMK should strike a cautious stability because the nation’s flagship museum. Past internet hosting standard blockbuster exhibits which have already confirmed profitable abroad, it also needs to put money into exhibitions of sturdy scholarly worth — initiatives that talk to nationwide identification, even when they’ve historically drawn smaller crowds. The objective is to boost the profile of those academically rigorous exhibits in order that they, too, appeal to wider audiences.
Guests line up on the entrance to the Nationwide Museum of Korea, Dec. 12, 2025. Newsis
Worldwide audiences
One other precedence is worldwide guests, who at present quantity about 231,000, or roughly 3.5 p.c of whole annual attendance. Strengthening the museum’s identification and visibility amongst vacationers and college students will likely be key to increasing that share.
“When folks come to Korea, the NMK ought to set up itself as a must-visit gateway to the nation’s historical past and tradition,” Yang stated. “Ideally, it could actually additionally sign that there are particular artifacts right here they merely can’t miss — just like the ‘Mona Lisa’ on the Louvre or the ‘Jadeite Cabbage’ at Taipei’s Nationwide Palace Museum.”
From a cultural tourism perspective, the NMK also needs to be higher woven into Seoul’s typical customer routes. Not like the Nationwide Palace Museum or the Nationwide People Museum, each situated close to the already-popular Gyeongbok Palace, the museum sits considerably remoted in Yongsan District and requires a deliberate journey, making it much less accessible to guests who will not be already inclined to hunt out museums.
“Making transportation info clearer and making it simpler for vacationers to get from locations like Myeong-dong or Gyeongbok Palace to Yongsan is crucial,” Choi stated. “We ought to be enthusiastic about how guests who come to the palace in hanbok (Korean conventional clothes) may naturally proceed on to Yongsan.”
Wanting forward, Yang envisioned a broader cultural cluster. “With the NMK, the Nationwide Hangeul Museum and the deliberate Yongsan Nationwide Park, this space may develop right into a vacation spot the place folks spend a great half-day.”
She additionally emphasised the significance of deeper worldwide trade.
“Via substantial collaborative exhibitions with main museums abroad, the NMK must additional increase its visibility and standing overseas,” Yang stated. “In spite of everything, individuals who go to main museums elsewhere are additionally those more than likely to hunt out museums after they come to Korea.”
