▲ Visitors line up to enter the National Museum of Korea in Seoul on Oct. 8, 2025, the sixth day of the extended Chuseok holiday. (Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) — The National Museum of Korea ranked third globally in annual museum visitors last year, surpassing major institutions such as the British Museum, the museum said Wednesday.

 

According to the museum, it recorded 6,507,483 visitors in 2025, based on the "Visitor Figures Survey" released by British art publication The Art Newspaper.

 

The figure placed it third worldwide, following the Louvre Museum with 9.046 million visitors and the Vatican Museums with 6,933,822 visitors.

 

It outpaced the British Museum, which recorded 6,440,120 visitors, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, which drew 5,984,091 visitors.

 

The Art Newspaper noted that the National Museum of Korea saw a more than 70 percent surge in visitors from a year earlier, describing it as one of the most significant increases observed in absolute terms.

 

Other Korean institutions also ranked within the global top 100, including the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (35th), Gyeongju National Museum (39th), Buyeo National Museum (78th) and Gongju National Museum (89th).

 

The publication highlighted that the Seoul branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art recorded 2.1 million visitors, up 28 percent on-year, while regional national museums in Jinju, Gyeongju, Cheongju, Buyeo and Iksan also posted notable increases, adding that "the most remarkable growth was seen in Korea."

 

Interest in Korean cultural heritage is also expanding overseas.

 

A traveling exhibition of donations from the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, held in Washington, D.C., attracted around 80,000 visitors, while a curator-led video surpassed 1 million views, marking the highest viewership in the past decade.

 

The upward trend has continued this year, with the National Museum of Korea drawing 2,023,888 visitors in the first quarter, up 44.8 percent from a year earlier.

 

The museum plans to maintain the momentum with a series of upcoming special exhibitions, including a Thai art exhibition in June, "Our Dining Table" in July, a collection from Kunsthaus Zurich in November and "Marie Antoinette Style" in December.

 

Museum Director Yoo Hong-jun said the growth reflects rising public interest in traditional Korean culture and heritage, the roots of the broader K-culture wave.

 

"We will continue to fulfill our role and responsibility as the heart of Korean culture by providing broader opportunities for cultural enjoyment," he said.

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]