National Museum of Korea ranks sixth globally in number of visitors

A survey by an overseas art magazine showed that the number of visitors to the National Museum of Korea last year was the sixth largest among museums and art galleries around the world.

According to a survey conducted by the British art media 'Art Newspaper' on Sunday, the National Museum of Korea welcomed 4,180,285 visitors last year, securing the sixth position among the museums and art galleries included in the survey.

According to the National Museum of Korea, last year marked the first time that the annual number of visitors surpassed 4 million, setting a record for the highest number of visitors ever. The museum hosted a special exhibition titled 'The Master's Gaze, Looking at People,' featuring collections from the National Gallery in London, England. Organized in collaboration with The Dong-A Ilbo and others, the exhibition ran for approximately four months, starting June 2 last year. It accounted for about 8.7% of the total number of visitors to the National Museum of Korea, with 361,866 people attending. This exhibition ranked as the third most visited among the special exhibitions held by the museum. "South Korea’s museums had already bounced back strongly in 2022, and 2023 saw them attract even more visitors," Art Newspaper explained.

Last year, the Louvre Museum in France claimed the title of the most-visited museum, with 8.86 million visitors. Following closely behind were the Vatican Museums with 6,764,858 visitors, the British Museum with 5,820,860 visitors, the Metropolitan Museum of Art with 5,364,000 visitors, and the Tate Modern with 4,742,038 visitors, securing the second to fifth positions, respectively.

The National Museum of Korea, which secured the sixth position globally, also clinched the top spot in Asia. Among museums and art galleries in Asia, Hong Kong's M+ Art Museum stood at 15th place globally with 2,797,616 visitors, followed by Japan's Tokyo National Art Museum at 21st place with 2,257,580 visitors. Additionally, the Seoul branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art garnered 2,021,771 visitors, securing the fourth position in Asia and the 26th globally.


Won-Mo Yu onemore@donga.com