National Museum of Korea, 1972, Image provided by National Archives of Korea
National Museum
* Source: Multilingual Glossary of Korean Art. Korea Arts Management Service
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National Museum of Korea
The National Museum of Korea is located at 137 Seobinggo-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The predecessor to the National Museum is the Yi Royal Family Museum founded in September 1908. The Yi Royal Family Museum showcased artwork owned by the royal family of Korea and was opened to the public in November 1909. The museum was relocated from its original home in the Japanese Government-General of Korea building to Gyeongbokgung Palace in 1910 and renamed the Japanese Government-General of Korea Museum in December 1915. The Japanese Government-General of Korea Museum collected and exhibited excavated artefacts and donated items from temples while conducting historical and archaeological research and archiving. The National Museum of Korea was established following the acquisition of the Japanese General-Government Museum in December 1945. In 1969, the National Museum of Korea merged with the Deoksugung Museum, the successor of the Yi Royal Family Museum. In October 2005, the National Museum of Korea moved to a newly constructed building at its current location in Seoul. As of December 31st, 2018, the museum holds a collection of approximately 410,000 pieces that span from the prehistoric to the modern era, and includes works from China, Japan, and Central Asia.
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Gyeongbokgung Palace Museum
Gyeongbokgung Palace Museum was a national museum located in Gyeongbokgung Palace from 1949 to 1973. It was used as an exhibition hall for the National Art Exhibition (Gukjeon) of Korea. It became the Museum of the Japanese Government-General of Korea in 1939, then was used as a venue of the Joseon Art Exhibition until 1944 and became the Gyeongbokgung Palace Museum after Independence. In 1949, it was used for the first National Art Exhibition of Korea. It also hosted large scale exhibitions, such as the Science Exhibition, the National Middle and High School Student Art Exhibition, the International Children’s Art Exhibition, and the National Commercial and Industry Art Exhibition from the 1950s to the 1960s, especially when there were few public museums. In 1957, it hosted The Family of Man, a photographic exhibition which travelled around the world starting at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The Gyeongbokgung Palace Museum was also the base of the National Museum of Contemporary Art from 1969 until its relocation to Deoksugung Palace in 1973. It was used as the National Folk Museum of Korea from 1975 to 1993 and was demolished during the restoration project of Gyeongbokgung Palace in 1998.
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