국립중앙박물관 At a glance
Good to know now
Paid parking: cars (up to 15 seats) KRW 900 for the first 30 minutes, then KRW 300 per 10 minutes; vehicles with 16 or more seats KRW 1,800, then KRW 600 per 10 minutes. Information line: 02-2077-9000.
Hours
Indoor galleries: Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri and Sun 09:30–17:30 (last entry 17:00); Wed and Sat 09:30–21:00 (last entry 20:30). Outdoor exhibition area (garden): 07:00–22:00.
Closed
Jan 1 and the days of Seollal and Chuseok. The galleries also close on the first Monday of March, June, September and December.
Admission
Free, except for paid special exhibitions.
Booking
Klook, GetYourGuide and KKday sell guided small-group tours of the museum's highlights; admission itself is free.
Admission to the permanent galleries is free, and there's a lot to see: close to 10,000 objects (9,884 by KTO's count) across seven galleries arranged by period and theme, with pieces rotated as loans and conservation require. Special exhibitions, gallery talks, a hands-on children's museum and immersive digital rooms round it out. The museum has been at its Yongsan site since 2005, and on Wednesday and Saturday evenings the galleries stay open until 21:00.
Book ahead
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National Museum of Korea · 3 tours & tickets- KlookNational Museum of Korea walking tourAn English-guided small-group walk through the museum's galleries, about 2 hours long.Book
- GetYourGuideNational Museum of Korea guided tourA 1.5-hour small-group tour with a certified guide covering about ten masterpieces, meeting at Ichon Station.Book
- KKdayNational Museum of Korea tourA guided tour of the museum's highlights, such as prehistoric relics, Silla gold crowns and Goryeo celadon.Book
Places to stay nearby
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Nine Tree Premier ROKAUS Hotel Seoul Yongsan
Northwest of National Museum of Korea
About 1.5 km away
Map
Numbers match the list. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Tips
- Plan around the quarterly closure: the galleries shut on the first Monday of March, June, September and December.
- For a calmer visit, go on a Wednesday or Saturday evening, when the galleries stay open until 21:00.
- With seven permanent galleries to cover, a guided tour is an easy way to see the key pieces first; the GetYourGuide tour meets at Ichon Station.
Nearby
Some SevitThree floating buildings on the Han River beside Banpo Bridge, lit up at night, with a media art gallery and a pier for yacht rides.
War Memorial of KoreaA huge, free museum in Yongsan on Korea's wars, above all the Korean War, with tanks, aircraft and other large weapons outside.
Banpo Bridge Moonlight Rainbow FountainJets of river water pour from both sides of Banpo Bridge in time to music and glow in rainbow colors at night, from mid-March through October.
ItaewonSeoul's most international neighborhood: world cuisines, the Itaewon Class overpass facing N Seoul Tower, Leeum's art and hillside café lanes.Facts and main photo: Korea Tourism Organization (TourAPI). The photo is used under KOGL Type 1 (Korea Open Government License, attribution). KOGL
Checked Oct 18, 2026