21 April 2026
Third most popular
National museum of Korea
Every day, there are thousands of news stories, advising me that the National museum of Korea is now the third most popular museum in the world, with a meteoric rise in visitor numbers in the last few years since they employed both BTS and Blackpink as curators, the gift shop even sells exclusive merch from both. Also it is free and old people come to enjoy the air conditioning.
Museum #1 is the Louvre (been there), while #2 is the soon to be bombed by the USA because the pope supports transgender bathrooms Vatican museum. So there you go, now you know.
I have actually been to the Korean national museum before, in 2011, and it was very different then, it now has a much bigger focus on large installations and digital presentations. I did enjoy many of the large open spaces, for me the actual museum building is more impressive than much of the old pottery contained within.
Not part of the museum yet, but I was enjoying the tunnel from the metro to the museum. The big open spaces are a sign of things to come.
They really are very very proud of the art newspaper visitor figures survey, I believe when I arrived in Korea they stamped the same message in my passport.
There it is. I cannot quite fit it all in, despite the large amount of concrete I have decided to feature in the foreground. There are numerous chain coffee stores and convenience stores just to the left of this photo.
It looks a look like a Starfield mall - more on that later, probably.
The hole in the middle is large, polluted today but you can still see the Namsan tower in the distance.
I completely explored the entire outside of the building before going in.
The interior is pleasingly monolithic.
The bottom floor, like seemingly all museums, is ancient pots. Lots and lots of pots.
Someone traced a series of ancient tablets, they call them stele's.
More pots.
As is often the case, I could not determine if this is real, or a re-creation.
One of many 3D digital exhibitions, hard to know what they were all about, seemingly random mix and match images. There is also a VR exhibit where you sit with goggles. I did not.
Probably the best bit, the quiet contemplation room, just 2 statues, and just out of frame, a security guard with the loudest security radio of all time. I stood and contemplated the hilarity of that for quite a while.
There is a large section on Buddhist art, this is a huge painting.
They recovered the monolith from the movie 2001. I smacked someone with a bone to celebrate.
Despite all the signs warning not to take a photo from this spot, I did. Thankfully I did not fall over the railing to my death, or drop my camera on someone below.
The guy sitting right in the middle of the photo had no intention of moving.
And just as I expected, much busier than anywhere in the museum itself, people buying museum themed k-pop souvenirs from the museum shop. Peak Korea. The BTS designed hair clip was $50 (not a joke).
Now you have seen the third most popular museum in the world.