National Museum of Korea, National museum in Yongsan District, Seoul, South Korea.
The National Museum of Korea is a long, low building in Yongsan Family Park, Seoul, with a pale grey panelled facade and a flat overhanging roof. Its left portion is recessed behind a tall dark glass wall, and a small square window and a narrow vertical glass strip sit on the right half. The building is 404 m long and 43.08 m high, with three exhibition floors above a basement.
After Korean independence in 1945, the institution opened as the first state facility dedicated to preserving Korean culture. The current building in Yongsan was completed in 2005, replacing a smaller site in another part of the city.
The name reflects its role as the country's central collection, guiding visitors through galleries of ceramics, paintings and sculptures. Some halls display objects from royal palaces, while others present tools and clothing from everyday life of past centuries.
The museum opens at 10 AM every day, closing at 6 PM Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, at 9 PM Wednesday and Saturday, and at 7 PM Sunday and public holidays. It is shut on 1 January and on Seollal and Chuseok. The main building runs 404 m long and reaches 43.08 m high, with the galleries on three floors; the left side is laid out as the past, the right as the future.
The entrance faces Mount Namsan, creating a sight line between nature and exhibition building. This alignment follows old Korean building traditions that treat mountains as important reference points.
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