National Museum of World Writing Systems
국립세계문자박물관
It is free, it is eight minutes from a subway exit, and it holds a leaf of the 42-line Gutenberg Bible. The building was designed to lie flat against the park rather than stand apart from it, which is why it does not look like a museum from outside.
Language
Place information
- Korean name
- 국립세계문자박물관
- Address
- 217 Central-ro, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon (Songdo-dong 24-8)
- Nearest station
- Central Park Station (센트럴파크역) (Exit 3) · 8-min walk
- Opening hours
- 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30)
- Closed
- Every Mon (open if it falls on a public holiday; closed the next weekday instead) · Jan 1 · Seollal · Chuseok
- Hours notes
- The car park runs 09:30–19:00, wider than the museum's own hours.
- Booking
- Children's Gallery required A hands-on exhibit suited to ages 5–7, booked in advance on the museum's website. Every child must be accompanied by a guardian; individual bookings are up to 4 people including the guardian, group bookings 10–30 including the leader.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Admission
- Free
Prices
| Admission | FreeThe permanent museum is free; paid special exhibitions are separate. |
|---|---|
| Parking — first 30 minutes | ₩600For cars and vans up to 15 seats; 300 KRW per further 15 minutes. Waived entirely if the vehicle leaves within 20 minutes of entry. |
| Parking — daily maximum | ₩6,000 |
Source: National Museum of World Writing Systems — visitor information · · National Museum of World Writing Systems — getting there ·
What to see
Prologue: A Great Invention
Speech vanishes the moment it leaves the mouth. The exhibition opens on the argument that writing was invented to get past that — the limit of a thing that cannot outlive its time and place.
Part 1: Writing Systems to Build a Road
Photograph: Cuneiform clay tablet (Part 1 — Writing opens the way)
Nine scripts side by side: cuneiform, Egyptian, Maya, Latin, Aramaic, the Indian and Southeast Asian scripts, Chinese characters, Hangeul, and Hunmaengjeongeum, Korea's braille. The frame is a count — some four hundred scripts have been used and about thirty survive.
Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0)
Part 2: Writing Systems to Create Culture
Photograph: The Gutenberg 42-line Bible and a printing forme (Part 2 — Writing makes culture)
Printing, translation, record, medium, typeface — and the argument that once the press made books endlessly copyable, authority held by a few could not hold. The Goryeo Tripitaka volume printed after 1239, a Gutenberg Bible of about 1454, an Italian natural history of 1476 and the Oryun haengsildo of 1797 are here.
Korea.net / Korean Culture and Information Service (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0)
Epilogue: The Writing of Tomorrow
Digital media changed how knowledge is stored and carried, and video, voice and emoji widened what writing covers. The exhibition closes on the paradox: humanity went from pictures to writing and is going back to pictures.
Prologue: A Great Invention selected
Visiting rules
- AccessibilityAllowed
- The museum states it applied universal design as a standard. Pushchairs and wheelchairs are lent at the level 1 desk against an ID or credit card, indoors only, with pushchairs for children under 24 months. Some objects are displayed uncased and may be touched, and the Hunmaengjeongeum section pairs braille with raised Hangeul and adds a sign-language video. Tactile tables carry models of the objects alongside braille, audio guidance and digital pads.
- National Museum of World Writing Systems — visitor information ·
Nearby
Songdo Central Park
The water is the park. Everything else here — the gardens, the deer, the boathouses — is arranged along 1.8 km of seawater canal, and the walk is decided by which bank you pick and which bridge you cross.
Incheon Urban History Museum
The one museum in Songdo that explains why Songdo exists. It is 300 m from the National Museum of World Writing Systems and keeps a different Monday rule, which is the only thing you need to check before pairing them.
Songdo Hanok Village
A hanok complex built among the towers, its lodgings and restaurants gathered under tiled roofs.
Songdo Convensia
The exhibition and convention centre in Songdo International City, whose halls take fan meetings and awards shows. It stands in a planned city built on reclaimed land rather than in old Incheon.
Stories about this place
- Three Places to Visit in Songdo: Central Park and the Two Museums Within 300m
Songdo Central Park and the two museums within walking distance, set out by what you see, how long each takes and when they close. All three are free and the museums stand 300 m apart, but their rules differ when a Monday falls on a public holiday, which changes the following day.
Nearby Food
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Where these facts come from
- National Museum of World Writing Systems — visitor information ·
- National Museum of World Writing Systems — facilities ·
- National Museum of World Writing Systems — getting there ·
- National Museum of World Writing Systems — permanent exhibition ·
- National Museum of World Writing Systems — history ·
- National Museum of World Writing Systems — Children's Gallery ·