National Folk Museum of Korea
Learn about Korean everyday culture through housing, clothes, food and seasonal customs.
Why choose this place
For everyday Korean life: housing, clothing, food and seasonal customs tell stories beyond royal history.
Make the most of your visit
Compare unfamiliar objects with things used today; everyday stories make the exhibits easier to understand.
Stories from the record
Collecting ordinary lives
The museum's history reaches back to the National Museum of Ethnology, opened in 1946. Clothing, food, work and rituals are its subjects. Everyday objects become valuable records of how people lived.
The museum changed homes too
After institutional and location changes, it moved to its present Gyeongbokgung site in 1993. Being inside a palace does not make it solely a museum of royal treasures. Compare domestic life with the palace setting.
Begin with a familiar object
Does an exhibited tool resemble something you have seen at home? Ask who made it, who used it and why its materials changed. Daily work, cooking and repairing clothes are history too.
Sources
Before you go
Opening hours and closing days can change, so check the official information before visiting.