National museums to remain open all week

Starting Oct. 1, three national museums in Korea will open seven days a week, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on Sept. 5.

They are: The National Museum of Korea in Yongsan; the National Folk Museum of Korea within Gyeongbok Palace; and the Deoksu Palace branch of the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) - all of which are situated in central Seoul.

In the past the three institutes closed once a week: Mondays for the National Museum of Korea and MMCA and Tuesdays for the National Folk Museum of Korea.

With the new policy, the ministry “hopes to give people more opportunities to appreciate culture and also add more jobs,” it said through a press release.

The ministry affirmed that they have been preparing since June to counter possible problems, in an apparent address to mounting criticisms that they are pushing this without much consideration for the proper management of human resources and upkeep of historical objects, among others. The ministry plans to have other museums and galleries follow suit in the near future.

BY KIM HYUNG-EUN [hkim@joongang.co.kr]