Four Major Museums in Seoul, Compared

The three in Yongsan are places where a site was chosen and a building raised in order to show things. That is why they cluster in one district, and it is why their operating rules resemble each other.

Seodaemun Prison History Hall is the reverse. It is a prison that opened in 1908, opened again as an exhibition on the same ground, and the cell blocks and the execution building are still standing. Its heritage listing is registered under "the former Seodaemun Prison", which is the same fact stated officially. The ground became the exhibition, which is also why its location was never a choice.

For a visitor that difference shows up in two places. It is the one of the four that charges, and the one whose closing time changes with the season. The other three close at the same hour all year.

Admission, closing days and hours

National Museum of Korea hours

The permanent galleries and Special Exhibition Halls 1-2 close on the first Monday of March, June, September and December - 1 June, 7 September and 7 December in 2026, with no March closure. For the summer opening of 27 July - 17 August 2026 the museum runs longer at both ends: 09:00-18:00 with last entry 17:30, and 09:00-21:00 on Wednesday and Saturday with last entry 20:30. On the scheduled rest days the permanent and special exhibition halls close but the outdoor exhibition ground opens as normal. Whether it opens on the full closure days is not stated by the operator.

Source: National Museum of Korea — visitor information · Aug 7, 2026

War Memorial of Korea hours

Source: War Memorial of Korea — visitor information · Aug 7, 2026

Seodaemun Prison History Hall hours

Source: Seodaemun Prison History Hall — visitor information: the seasonal hours, the closing days and the admission table · Aug 25, 2026

Leeum Museum of Art hours

Ticket sales close at 17:30. The official FAQ gives booked visitors an entry window from twenty minutes before their reserved time until before the next booking time. Check the booking guidance and arrive at your reserved time.

Source: Leeum Museum of Art — Visiting hours, closures, booked entry and directions · Aug 26, 2026

Seoul's museums are usually summed up as "free, and closed on Mondays". None of these four fits that description. Check the following before you settle on a date.

The National Museum normally opens on Mondays. Its 2026 visitor information lists 1 January, Seollal and Chuseok as museum closing days. It also has separate scheduled gallery closure days. The permanent galleries and special exhibition halls 1 and 2 close on the first Monday of March, June, September and December each year, while the outdoor grounds remain open. The same guidance specifies that there was no March gallery closure in 2026. On a scheduled gallery closure day, you can see the outdoor stone pagodas and garden but not those galleries, so check the guidance for your year of travel and the gallery closure notices before visiting.

The War Memorial closes at 17:40 and stops admitting people at 17:00. The National Museum stops admitting people thirty minutes before closing; this one does it forty minutes before, so anyone rounding to "it'll be open till six" and arriving after an afternoon elsewhere is already too late. If it is going into an afternoon, arrive well ahead of the last entry. There is a second layer to its Monday rule as well — it closes on the day after a holiday period that includes a Monday.

Seodaemun Prison closes an hour earlier in winter. 18:00 from March to October, 17:00 from November to February. It is the one of the four where the season has to be checked, and it publishes no last-entry time at all.

Leeum cannot tell you the price in advance. The permanent collection of older Korean art is free and the temporary exhibitions are charged, but the amount differs per show and no fixed figure is posted. The price depends entirely on what is on, which makes it the one of the four you have to look up first.

• On a Monday — check the National Museum first. It normally opens on Mondays, but on scheduled gallery closure days the permanent galleries and special exhibition halls are shut while the outdoor grounds remain open; choose another day if you want to see those galleries. The War Memorial, Seodaemun Prison and Leeum normally close every Monday. For public holidays and holiday periods, check each institution's closure rules and dated notices.
• Setting out late in the afternoon — drop the War Memorial, whose last entry comes early, and on a Wednesday or Saturday choose the National Museum, which stays open into the evening.
• Seodaemun Prison on a winter afternoon — from November to February it closes an hour earlier and publishes no last-entry time, so it is safer to move it to the morning or early afternoon.
• In the rain — all four are mainly indoors, so go as planned; you will just move quickly through the War Memorial's outdoor exhibits.

Check before you go. For Leeum, check which temporary exhibition is on and what it costs; for the National Museum, check the museum and gallery closure guidance for your year of travel and whether a paid special exhibition needs its own ticket. If you are visiting on a public holiday or during a holiday period, also check dated closure notices from the institutions you plan to visit, including the War Memorial.