National Folk Museum of Korea
국립민속박물관
Attached to Gyeongbokgung's north-east side, and about ordinary households rather than the court. Its hours split by season — November to February it shuts an hour earlier — so a winter afternoon spent on the palace first leaves too little for it.
Language
Place information
- Korean name
- 국립민속박물관
- Address
- 37 Samcheong-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul 03045
- Opening hours
- Mar–Oct 09:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00) Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec 09:00–17:00 (last entry 16:00) Mar–Oct Wed extended evening opening 09:00–20:00 (last entry 19:00)
- Closed
- Jan 1 · Seollal · Chuseok
- Hours notes
- Last entry is an hour before closing. The extended Wednesday evening runs from March to October only; there is none between November and February.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Admission
- Free
Prices
| Admission | Free |
|---|
Source: National Folk Museum of Korea — main hall visitor information ·
History
Gungnip Minjok Bangmulgwan, a national museum of Korean ethnology, was founded under an appointment order issued by the United States military government, opened in Yejang-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, and was later incorporated into the National Museum. A Korean folk gallery opened in Sujeongjeon at Gyeongbokgung, followed by a Korean folk museum in the former National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art building within the palace. It was subsequently reorganised as the National Folk Museum of Korea under the National Museum of Korea and moved to its current building, the former premises of the National Museum of Korea.
8 November 1945
Founding of Gungnip Minjok Bangmulgwan
25 April 1946
Opening of Gungnip Minjok Bangmulgwan
December 1950
Incorporation into the National Museum
4 October 1966
Opening of the Korean folk gallery
11 April 1975
Opening of the Korean folk museum
April 1979
Reorganisation as the National Folk Museum
17 February 1993
Opening in the current building
February 2003
Opening of the children's museum
July 2021
Opening of the museum in Paju
What to see
Exhibition 1: Life in Korea today — morning
The morning section describes how a scholar began his day: washing and cleaning his teeth, checking on his parents after the night, arranging his topknot and clothes, then paying his respects at the ancestral shrine.
Exhibition 2: A year in Korean life
The exhibition presents life through the year in sections on the first lunar month, summer, autumn and winter.
Exhibition 3: A life in Korea
The exhibition presents a person's life through birth, marriage and family, funerals, and ancestral rites.
Geumjul
After a child was born, geumjul (a straw rope) was hung across the main gate to announce the birth and keep out evil spirits and people considered impure; for a boy, red chillies and charcoal were inserted into the rope. The rope was removed after 21 days.
Outdoor exhibits
Outdoor exhibits include statues of the twelve zodiac animals, the Supyo water gauge, dol hareubang, jeongjumok and jeongnang (Jeju gateposts and bars), an area with jangseung, stone towers and sotdae, a filial-piety shrine, and a street recalling the 1970s and 1980s.
Exhibition 1: Life in Korea today — morning selected
Nearby
Stories about this place
- Museums Open Late in Jongno, Seoul: Which Evenings, and How to Walk Them
Five museums and galleries around Gyeongbokgung stay open into the evening, each on a different day of the week. Here is which day is which, what changes on the last Wednesday of the month, how to link them on foot, and what to do on the four evenings when none of them open late.
