Culture - Korea travel information

Wonder Island (원더아일랜드)

2024-01-24

89 Sinhwayeoksa-ro 304beon-gil, Andeok-myeon, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do

Wonder Island is the nation's first experience-based media exhibition space, and is located inside Summerset Clubhouse within Shinhwa World. The exhibition hall, geared towards children, is divided into 12 different themes that show Jeju's beautiful nature and animals.

Namwon Traditional Lacquer Craft Center (남원시 옻칠공예관)

2024-04-06

1234-5 Yocheon-ro, Namwon-si, Jeonbuk-do

Namwon Traditional Lacquer Craft Center is a lacquer crafts exhibition hall that opened in 2004 to spread lacquer culture, research on lacquer technology, and foster the younger generations. In Namwon, lacquer woodworking has been developed since ancient times, and traces of lacquerwork from the Bronze Age were discovered here. Accordingly, this craft center was built to establish Namwon as a central city for lacquer crafts through continuous research and development.
This two-story center consists of an exhibition hall, a store, an experience room, a laboratory, an audio-visual education room, and a training room. The exhibition hall displays awardwinning craft works and various lacquered crafts such as bowls, furniture, spoons and chopsticks, cabinets with flower and grass designs, tables, janggu (hourglass-shaped drum) sticks, and utensils used in ancestral rites. In addition, it operates experience programs for the general public and a store that sells lacquer crafts.

Gayageum Theme Park (가야금테마공원)

2024-01-10

19-10 Gichan land-ro, Yeongam-eup, Yeongam-gun, Jeollanam-do

Opened in 2014, Gayageum Theme Park is the only gayageum-themed park in Korea. Various relics and materials related to the gayageum, a representative Korean traditional stringed instrument consisting of 12 strings, are displayed through which visitors have the opportunity to learn about this unique instrument. In addition to the 12-string gayageum, the improved ones, with 18 strings, 21 strings, and 25 strings, are also on display and the only ox-horn gayageum in Korea made of ox horns and pure gold is particularly worth observing. A bust of Kim Chang-jo born in Yeongam, who created the framework of Gayageum Sanjo (a free-style gayageum solo music), is also on display. In the listening room, visitors can appreciate beautiful music played by gayageum masters.

Daebul Hotel Exhibition Hall (대불호텔전시관)

2024-12-23

101 Sinpo-ro 23beon-gil, Jung-gu, Incheon

This museum is located on the site of Daebul Hotel, Korea's first Western-style hotel, established in 1889. The hotel was demolished in 1978, but parts of the hotel structure were discovered in 2011 and rebuilt to preserve the hotel's original appearance. The first floor is the Daebul Hotel Exhibition Hall, through which visitors can see traces of Daebul Hotel at the time. The second floor is the Jung-gu Life History Museum, where visitors can get a glimpse of life in Incheon's Jung-gu area in the 1960s and 1970s.

May 18 Democratic Uprising Archives (5•18민주화운동 기록관)

2024-01-03

221 Geumnam-ro, Dong-gu, Gwangju

The May 18 Democratization Movement was a righteous uprising by citizens that took place in Gwangju for ten days from May 18 to 27 in 1980. The May 18 Democratic Uprising Archives was established in 2015 at the former Gwangju Catholic Center, a historical site of May 1980, to systematically collect and preserve the May 18 Democratization Movement's heritage that led to the democracy in Korea today. Through the efforts of Gwangju citizens, visitors can see the original records of the May 18 Democratization Movement, inscribed on the UNESCO Memory of the World in 2011. Visitors can also view the records with a guide or through online exhibitions. The May 18 Democratic Uprising Archives is a place that preserves the history of all Korean citizens.

Youngwol Y Park (젊은달와이파크)

2024-01-09

1467-9 Songhakjucheon-ro, Jucheon-myeon, Yeongwol-gun, Gangwon-do

Youngwol Y Park is a complex art space that recreated the Sulsaem Museum, which opened in 2014, into a regeneration space that combines contemporary works of art, museums, and workshops. This newly created contemporary art space was planned by sculptor Choi Ok-yeung. Located in Jucheon-myeon’s untouched beautiful nature, the space is composed of Red Bamboo, Red Pavilion, and Jupiter, which are works using the signature red color of Choi Ok-yeung. The artist designed the space according to various themes, such as life, space, and regeneration, intending to evoking various feelings within visitors through viewing and experience. It is a huge art museum and land art space divided into 11 landscapes, and it's worth taking the time to look around slowly.

Chusa Memorial Hall (추사기념관)

2024-12-27

+82-41-339-8247

Chusa Memorial Hall opened in 2008, holds works of Chusa Gim Jeong-hui including his arts, epigraphy, calligraphy and more. The memorial hall preserves and exhibits Chusa Gin Jeong-hui's works to show future generations about his achievements. 

Seoul K-Medi Center (서울한방진흥센터)

2024-12-12

26 Yangnyeongjungang-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul

Seoul Yangnyeongsi Market is an herbal medicine specialty market that distributes 70% of the herbal medicines traded in Korea and is a Korean medicine-themed town with over a thousand businesses related to oriental medicine, including oriental medicine clinics and herbal medicine stores. The Seoul K-Medi Center, located in this center of Korean herbal medicine culture, is an oriental medicine complex cultural facility that promotes the excellence and safety of traditional Korean medicine through various exhibitions, education, and experiences. The building is unique in that it harmonizes the simplicity of modern architecture with Korean elegance. Visitors can enjoy various experiences in many different facilities in the center, including the Herb Medicine Museum, where one can expand their understanding of Korean medicine by examining over 300 types of medicinal herbs and their effects; the Herb Medicine Experience Room, where visitors can experience herbal medicine natural face packs and herbal heat packs; and Yakseon Food Experience Center, where visitors can learn about healthy recipes using medicinal herbs and make healthy foods.

Amsa-dong Prehistoric Site Museum (암사동선사유적박물관)

2023-12-22

875 Olympic-ro, Gangdong-gu, Seoul

The archaeological sites in Amsa-dong, Seoul, were a collective settlement where people lived during the Neolithic Age about 6,000 years ago and became known to the world after the sand dunes along the Hangang River caved in during the great flood of 1925, exposing numerous pieces of comb-patterned pottery. The area designated as a historic site in 1979, and excavation of the site took place from 1981 to 1988. The cultural heritage protection area was expanded to a total area of ​​78,133㎡. Currently, nine Neolithic dugout huts and one experiential dugout hut have been restored. The exhibitions currently open to the public are Exhibition Hall 1, which displays a restoration of a Neolithic Age dugout, and Exhibition Hall 2, which displays various panels and models to help understand the prehistoric era as a whole.

Seoul Museum of Craft Art (SeMoCA) (서울공예박물관)

2024-12-10

The Seoul Museum of Craft Art (SeMoCA), the first public museum of craft art in Korea, opened its doors in Anguk-dong, Jongno-gu, in July 2021 after renovating five buildings of the former Pungmoon Girls’ High School. SeMoCA studies and shares not only works, but also information, records, people, and environment related to craft art with the goal of becoming a dynamic platform for experiencing the technical, practical, artistic, and cultural values of craft.
 SeMoCA holds a collection that comprises various crafts and craft materials covering multiple fields and eras from the traditional to the present. SeMoCA also holds exhibitions that feature the history of craft from traditional to contemporary art as well as local and children’s crafts, along with programs that utilize the museum’s craft installations, craft archives, craft library, and craft resource management system.
The site of the museum has deep historical roots as it is also the Andong Secondary Palace Site, where a detached palace was constructed as a royal residence for King Sejong’s son Prince Yeongeung, and served as a venue for royal celebrations, such as the wedding of King Sunjong. The site is also at the center of Jongno-gu, where Joseon-era master artisans (“gyeonggongjang”) of the royal palace produced and delivered craft works.
<Credit: Seoul Museum of Craft Art>