Late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee museum to be built in Seoul

Seoul has been chosen as the location to build a museum dedicated to artworks donated by the late Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee.　

The Ministry of Culture and Sports held a press conference on Wednesday and announced that two sites would be considered for the museum that would house 23,181 works donated to the National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern Art : Songhyeon-dong of Jongno or the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan. The final location will be determined by this year. 　

“The most important factor we considered is cultural access for the public. Lee’s collection should be viewed in one location to reflect his wide collections across various genres, regions and ages,” said Cultural Minister Hwang-hee. He stressed the need for the museum to be centrally located in Seoul to ensure access by professional resources to research, preserve and manage the artifacts and public access to appreciate the artworks. “The museum will be named after the late chairman and will be completed in 2027 or 2028,” 　

Lee’s bereaved family donated 23,181 artworks including cultural assets, paintings of modern times to the Korean government, and President Moon Jae-in instructed to build a museum for the collection.


Hyo-Lim Son aryssong@donga.com