National Museum of Korea set to top 5 million annual visitors for first time

연합뉴스 / 2025-08-26 10:52:19

▲ Visitors spend time viewing exhibits at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul on Aug. 1, 2025. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- The National Museum of Korea is on track to set a new attendance record this year, with projections indicating it could surpass 5 million annual visitors for the first time since its founding in 1945.

According to museum data released Tuesday, 4,189,822 people visited the institution between Jan. 1 and Aug. 25. The figure already exceeds the total attendance of 3,788,785 recorded for all of 2024, and also breaks the all-time high of 4,180,285 of 2023 — the first year the museum crossed the 4 million mark.

At the current pace, the museum is expected to reach the 5 million milestone by year-end, a first in its 80-year history. A museum official said the figure reflects preliminary tallies for the permanent exhibition halls, adding that numbers could increase further if theater shows, educational programs and other activities are included.

Monthly visitor numbers have shown steady growth this year, topping 500,000 in both January and February, and soaring to 747,679 in July. That translates to an average of about 24,000 people per day as of last month. Attendance in August has already surpassed 700,000.

▲ Visitors spend time viewing exhibits at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul on Aug. 1, 2025. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Observers attribute the surge in part to rising global interest in Korean culture, fueled recently by the worldwide success of the Netflix animated film “K-Pop Demon Hunters,” which prominently features traditional motifs such as the Korean hat gat and tigers. The museum has said the phenomenon reflects the expansion of the Korean Wave beyond K-pop and K-food to “K-tradition.”

The growing attendance spans generations, particularly people in their 20s and 30s. Combined annual visitors to the National Museum of Korea and its 13 affiliated museums have topped 10 million for two consecutive years in 2023-2024, with foreign visitors also hitting an all-time high in 2024. Sales of “muse” — museum-themed merchandise — reached 11.5 billion won (US$8.4 million) in the first half of this year alone.

▲ This photo, provided by Netflix, shows a scene from “K-pop Demon Hunters.” (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

With monthlyattendance averaging nearly 490,000 between January and July, the annual total could potentially reach as high as 6 million by December. The upcoming Chuseok holiday in October is also expected to boost numbers further.

The rapid increase has raised concerns about safety and infrastructure capacity. When the museum opened at its Yongsan site in 2005, its exhibition halls were designed to accommodate a maximum of about 18,000 visitors per day. But recent surges, especially during the summer vacation season, have strained facilities, raising red flags over artifact safety, exhibition conditions and visitor convenience.

The museum has urged visitors to use public transportation, warning that parking lots may require over an hour of waiting due to congestion. Additional guides and security staff have been deployed at the entrances. Plans are also under way to build a new children’s museum on the grounds, three times the current size, with family-friendly rest areas. The expansion is scheduled for completion by 2029.

“Visitor numbers have grown significantly, but our budget and facilities have remained the same since the Yongsan relocation in 2005,” a museum official said, stressing the need for increased resources and staffing.