The Nationwide Museum of Korea (NMK) Seoul’s principal website in Yongsan District final yr noticed its visitorship leap to six.5 million from 3.8 million in 2024. Of those, says a spokesperson, 230,000 (3.55%) have been worldwide guests, the primary time its annual worldwide guests have surpassed 200,000.
Although the globally common Korean cultural wave is already a number of years outdated, a museum spokesperson says there was a brand new surge of “curiosity and enthusiasm” for Hallyu, each globally and domestically. That actually helped drive guests, however the museum has additionally been “steadily getting ready numerous and substantial content material” to satisfy the renewed curiosity with “progressive exhibition planning centred on historic artefacts”.
Among the museum’s everlasting galleries have been overhauled and particular exhibitions “introduced recent interpretations of Korean cultural heritage” and international cultures. Final yr’s programming tied into Korea’s eightieth anniversary of its liberation from Japanese rule with reveals in regards to the naval legend Admiral Yi Solar-sin (1545-98) and the marathoner Son Kee-chung, who received the gold medal within the 1936 Berlin Summer season Olympics. The museum additionally commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the museum’s relocation to Yongsan with an exhibition of the artwork of the early Joseon period.
As well as, NMK hosted a mortgage present from France’s Musée du Quai Branly-Jacques Chirac on Pacific Islander tradition and opened a brand new everlasting room dedicated to Islamic cultures. The museum labored on its viewers engagement and accessibility, too, with barrier-free content material and higher integration of digital expertise.
• Learn the total outcomes of our 2025 Customer Figures survey right here
