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National Museum sets record with six millionth visitor in 2025, now fourth-most visited museum worldwide

Published: 11 Dec. 2025, 19:11

LIM JEONG-WON
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National Museum of Korea Director You Hong-june and the families of the six millionth domestic and foreign visitors of the year pose for a photo in front of the main hall of the museum to mark the milestone on Dec. 11. [KIM KYUNG-ROK]

The National Museum of Korea surpassed six million annual visitors for the first time ever on Thursday, marking a momentous occasion for Korea’s culture and tourism industry.

The six millionth visitor for the year entered the museum at around 2 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Museum of Korea. The visitor was 40-year-old Noh Yong-uk from Seongnam, Gyeonggi, who visited with his family of four, including his twin children.

“I visited the museum for the first time to see the special exhibition ‘From Impressionism to Early Modernism’ and the Children’s Museum,” said Noh. “I heard that children really enjoy the Children’s Museum, so I came here — and I’m happy to have become the six-millionth visitor.”

Noh received gifts, including a miniature of the National Treasure Gilt-bronze Maitreya in Meditation, from You Hong-june, Director of the National Museum of Korea.

The first foreign visitor to enter after the museum surpassed six million guests, a visitor from Denmark surnamed Lasse, also received a gift.

“Denmark’s [total] population is about six million, so I’m surprised that six million people visited a museum in Korea,” said Lasse. “My wife is Korean, and I wanted to understand Korean culture, so we visited together. I’m looking forward to the special exhibition ‘Our Yi Sun-sin.’”

National Museum of Korea Director You Hong-june speaks during a ceremony commemorating the museum reaching six million annual visitors in front of the main hall of the museum on Dec. 11. [KIM KYUNG-ROK]

The annual figure of six million visitors places the museum fourth in the world in terms of visitor numbers, based on 2024 data from the museum industry media outlet Art Newspaper. It trails only the Louvre Museum, which has had 8.74 million visitors, the Vatican Museums, with 6.83 million visitors and the British Museum with 6.48 million visitors.

The total number of visitors to the National Museum of Korea and its 13 affiliated museums nationwide this year has reached 13.8 million — surpassing the total attendance at this year’s professional baseball games, which stood at 12.6 million including the postseason.

“The milestone of six million is a symbolic number that shows the trust and love the public has shown toward the museum,” said director You. “We will strive to provide an even higher level of service and further strengthen our role as the heart of Korean culture.”

Visitors to the National Museum of Korea are seen in the main hall of the museum on Dec. 11. [KIM KYUNG-ROK]

The National Museum of Korea was founded in 1945 after Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule (1910-45) and moved to its current location in Yongsan on Oct. 28, 2005.

The number of visitors to the National Museum of Korea has been steadily increasing over the years. This year, due to the immense popularity of the hit Netflix animation film “KPop Demon Hunters” and continued free admission policies, the figure reached its highest number ever.

The museum’s official museum shop has also enjoyed strong popularity among visitors and the public alike, recording cumulative sales of 35.6 billion won ($24 million) as of November this year, significantly outpacing the previous year's annual sales of approximately 21.3 billion won.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KANG HYE-RAN, LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]