National Museum of Korea
During the Korean War, staff packed 20,000 objects and moved them to Busan — that collection now fills the flagship museum of Korean history and art in South Korea.
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The collection traces back to Emperor Sunjong's 1909 Imperial Household Museum, absorbed Japanese colonial-era holdings, survived a wartime evacuation, and landed here in 2005 on land that was once a US military garrison golf course. Over 310,000 pieces in total, with about 15,000 on display at any one time — enough to spend a full day without doubling back.
What to look for
- The wartime rescue story — 20,000 objects were evacuated to Busan during the Korean War to keep them from destruction
- The grounds: Yongsan Family Park was a US Forces golf course until the US Army returned the land to Korea in 1992
- The permanent galleries' sheer depth — 15,000 objects on show from a 310,000-piece collection spanning archaeology, history, and art
In Yongsan Family Park, Yongsan District; the current building opened October 28, 2005 — allow at least half a day for the permanent galleries.
National Museum of Korea is one of 28 sights worth the detour in Seoul, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Seoul pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Seoul
- ChangdeokgungThe kings kept skipping the official palace to live here instead — and they had centuries to prove the point.
- Seoul Metropolitan SubwayLine 1 launched in 1974 tracing Tokyo's blueprint; today 24 lines stretch over 100 km beyond the capital into rural Chungnam and Gangwon provinces.
- JongmyoSpirit tablets of Joseon kings still receive ritual offerings here, exactly as they have since 1394.
- Blue House (Cheong Wa Dae)South Korea's seat of presidential power since 1948 — a 62-acre compound so secure it was once called one of Asia's most protected official residences, until the gates briefly opened to everyone.
- Namdaemun (Sungnyemun)Built in 1398, burned by an arsonist in 2008, and painstakingly restored by 2013 — Seoul's southern gate has a complicated relationship with fire.
- Lotte World TowerYou step onto the Sky Bridge at 541 m — the exact altitude of New York's tallest building, but you're looking down on Seoul.