5,814,000 Visitors by November This Year
Record High Since Opening in December 1945
"Established as One of the World's Top Five Museums"
The National Museum of Korea, which set a new record with 5 million visitors this year, is expected to break the 6 million mark before the end of the year.
Visitors are waiting to enter at the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul. Photo by Seomideum.
The National Museum of Korea announced on December 3 that, as of November 30, the annual number of visitors had reached 5,814,265. Based on recent trends, the museum expects to surpass 6 million visitors next week. This would be a record in the 80 years since the museum (then called the National Museum) first opened on December 3, 1945.
The cumulative number of visitors since its opening has reached 100,669,308 this year, surpassing 100 million for the first time. As global interest in Korean culture continues to grow, the popularity of the Netflix animation "K-Pop Demon Hunters" and the museum's cultural merchandise "Myuz" have contributed to the increase in visitors.
The upper row shows Gyeongbokgung Phase 1 (former Joseon Governor-General Museum, 1945?1953), Deoksugung Period (1955?1972), and Gyeongbokgung Phase 2 (current National Folk Museum, 1972?1986). The lower row shows Gyeongbokgung Phase 3 (former Central Government Complex, 1986?1996), Gyeongbokgung Phase 4 (current National Palace Museum of Korea, 1996?2004), and the current Yongsan Period (2005?present). Provided by the National Museum of Korea
A museum official commented, "After 80 years of steady growth, we have reached our current scale of visitors," adding, "We have established ourselves as one of the top five museums in the world and are playing a central role in K-culture."
Even compared to major museums worldwide, the National Museum of Korea ranks among the top in visitor numbers. According to the art magazine "The Art Newspaper," the Louvre Museum recorded the highest number of visitors in 2024 with 8,737,050, followed by the Vatican Museums (6,825,436), the British Museum (6,479,952), and the Metropolitan Museum of Art (5,727,258).
The growth of the National Museum of Korea is even more remarkable compared to its early days. In its first month after opening in December 1945, its predecessor, the National Museum, had only about 4,500 visitors. However, with the opening of branch museums the following year, annual visitors reached 124,828. From 1961, the National Museum of Korea began keeping independent statistics, and in 1987, annual visitors surpassed 1 million. After relocating to Yongsan in 2005, the number of visitors steadily increased, reaching the 3 million range for the first time in 2006.
In 2020, when the museum was closed for 194 days due to COVID-19, visitor numbers dropped to 773,621, but quickly recovered, surpassing 4 million in 2023. This year, the museum is on the verge of exceeding 6 million visitors, which is about 46.6 times the annual number of visitors in 1946.
The collection has also expanded significantly. The museum started with 46,882 items, but now holds 438,366 items, an increase of about 9.4 times. In particular, the donation from the family of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee in 2021 added 9,797 cases, totaling 21,639 items, greatly contributing to the expansion of the museum's collection.
Regional museums have also shown remarkable results. From January to November, the National Gyeongju Museum recorded the highest number of visitors at 1,759,476, followed by Buyeo Museum (885,168) and Gongju Museum (810,088). The combined cumulative number of visitors to the National Museum of Korea and regional museums this year reached 13,419,800, marking over 10 million visitors for three consecutive years since 2023 and 2024.
The museum is accelerating the expansion of exhibitions and facilities to meet increasing demand. Currently, about 4.1% of the collection is on display, making increased utilization a key task. Other challenges to be addressed in the future include discussions about paid admissions, expanding AI-based content, and improving visitor amenities.
Yoo Hongjun, Director of the National Museum of Korea, stated, "Based on the museum's journey of preserving and rediscovering the essence of our culture over the past 80 years, we will prepare for the next 100 years."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
