"Making History This Year": National Museum of Korea Draws 3.25 Million Visitors in Just Five Months

45.2% Increase in Visitors from January to May Year-on-Year

Annual Attendance Expected to Surpass 7 Million

Gyeongju Museum Reaches 1 Million Visitors Earlier Than Ever

The National Museum of Korea, which surpassed 6.5 million annual visitors for the first time last year, is on track to break its own record again this year. With over 3.25 million visitors already recorded from January to May, there is now talk that the yearly total could even exceed 7 million if this trend continues.

Bustling National Museum of Korea. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

According to the National Museum of Korea on June 7, a total of 3,255,160 people visited the museum from January to May this year. Of these, 3,133,136 were domestic visitors and 122,024 were foreign visitors. Compared to the same period last year, when there were 2,241,592 visitors, this marks an increase of 45.2%.

This upward trend has been clear since the beginning of the year. In January and February, when the winter break and Lunar New Year holidays overlapped, the museum saw 730,473 and 760,792 visitors, respectively. The number of monthly visitors exceeded 700,000 for two consecutive months. This was a notable difference from December last year, when monthly visitor numbers were in the 510,000 to 540,000 range, signaling a much stronger start to the year.

Although the numbers dipped slightly in March and April, when the new school semester began—535,451 and 515,268 visitors, respectively—they rebounded in May, reaching 713,176. The combination of Children’s Day and increased demand for family outings meant that, on average, around 23,000 people visited the museum each day in May.

The rise in foreign visitors is also remarkable. From January to May this year, there were 122,024 foreign visitors, a 57.8% increase from 77,338 during the same period last year. The convergence of the global spread of K-culture and the recovery of inbound tourism is helping the National Museum of Korea emerge as a key stop on the Seoul tourism circuit.

The folding albums of "Danwon Pungsokdo" are exhibited at the "Danwon Kim Hongdo, Painting the Era" exhibition held in the Calligraphy and Painting Room of the National Museum of Korea's permanent exhibition hall. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The National Museum of Korea recorded a total of 6,507,483 annual visitors last year, the highest figure since its opening in 1945. Compared to the 3,788,785 visitors in 2024, this was about a 1.7-fold increase. This year, in just five months, the museum has already reached nearly half of last year’s total, indicating an even steeper upward trend.

Visitor numbers are also rising at regional national museums outside Seoul. As of May 30, the National Gyeongju Museum had recorded a cumulative 1,000,961 visitors this year, a 73.7% increase from 576,104 during the same period last year. The milestone of 1 million annual visitors was reached 86 days earlier than last year, when it occurred on August 24. This shows that the popularity of museums, once centered in the capital region, is now spreading to key regional museums.

The National Gyeongju Museum will launch a special exhibition titled "Hwangnyongsa, Enshrining the Relics of the Buddha–Hwangnyongbongbul" from June 12 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the excavation of the Hwangnyongsa Temple site in Gyeongju. Hwangnyongsa was the largest temple complex of the Silla Kingdom, built during the reign of King Jinheung. The exhibition focuses on reliquaries—elaborate structures designed to enshrine Buddhist relics—and highlights the results of the Hwangnyongsa excavations and research through 127 artifacts.

The painting "Seowonajjipdo" is displayed at the "Danwon Kim Hongdo, Painting the Era" exhibition held in the Calligraphy and Painting Room of the National Museum of Korea's permanent exhibition hall. Photo by Yonhap News

The National Museum of Korea is also set to maintain this momentum with upcoming special exhibitions in the second half of the year. "Amazing Thailand: Masterpieces of Thai Art," opening on June 23, will be the first exhibition in Korea to offer an in-depth look at Thai culture and art. It will showcase 214 artifacts spanning Thai art from prehistoric times to the mid-20th century, including Sukhothai-period Buddhist statues and other examples of Southeast Asian Buddhist art, which remain unfamiliar to Korean audiences.

Exhibitions highlighting Korean food culture will also continue. "Our Table," a special exhibition running from July 1 to October 25, will shed light on Korean dining culture through artifacts such as dishes excavated from King Muryeong’s Tomb of Baekje and food scenes depicted in Joseon-era genre paintings.

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