Domestic Craze for 'Muijeu', Weak Overseas Performance... "Urgent Need to Increase Promotional Budget"

Muijeu's Success Continues with Record-Breaking Sales
21.7 Billion Won in Sales by August, 30 Billion Won Expected by Year-End
Overseas Sales Remain Low, Only 169 Orders This Year
Just 4 Million Won Spent on SNS Promotion
"Urgent Need to Increase Promotional Budget"

The museum merchandise brand 'Muijeu (MU:DS)', operated by the National Museum Cultural Foundation, has enjoyed great success domestically, but its direct overseas sales have been sluggish. There are calls for increased promotion of Muijeu's overseas sales channels and additional budget support.

Among Muijeu products, the bestseller is the "Three Drunken Scholars Color-Changing Glass Set." Provided by the National Museum Cultural Foundation

According to data submitted to the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee by Assemblyman Yang Moonseok (Democratic Party of Korea, Ansan-gap), Muijeu's total sales for this year (January to August 2025) reached 21.7 billion won, already surpassing last year's total sales of 21.2 billion won.

Sales from museum shops (12.5 billion won), online sales (6.9 billion won), and corporate special sales (2.3 billion won) have all increased compared to the previous year, raising expectations that sales could exceed 30 billion won this year.

In particular, products such as the 'Three Drunken Scholars Color-Changing Glass Set', 'Mother-of-Pearl Tumbler', and 'Pensive Bodhisattva Miniature' have consistently ranked among the top sellers each year, establishing themselves as the museum's signature merchandise.

However, despite this strong domestic performance, overseas sales remain minimal.

The overseas online sales site, newly launched in October last year, recorded only 33 million won in sales and 169 purchases from January to August this year.

The foundation has built an English-language shopping mall and opened Instagram and Facebook accounts to promote Muijeu abroad, but the promotional budget is severely lacking.

In fact, the only budget allocated for overseas promotion was 4 million won for Meta (Instagram and Facebook) advertising, resulting in just 160,000 ad impressions.

Assemblyman Yang stated, "Muijeu, which leverages K-culture and cultural heritage, has received a great response domestically, but its performance in overseas markets is insufficient." He added, "To usher in the era of 300 trillion won for K-culture, all K-goods, including Muijeu, must actively expand into overseas markets." He further emphasized, "It is urgent to increase the promotional budget to support this effort."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.