National Museum of Korea

The National Museum of Korea (NMK), the representative of Korean cultural institutions, has attracted more than 3 million visitors every year for its extensive exhibitions and activities. The permanent exhibition hall of the museum covers an area of about 19,000 square meters, travelling thousands of year with 5770 packs of item, including hand axe from the Paleolithic period, gorgeous golden crown from the Three Kingdoms period, exquisite celadon from the Goryeo Dynasty, outstanding paintings from the Joseon Dynasty, and modern photography.
NMK is keen on bringing colorful cultural experience for visitors by a series of exhibitions and activities. Regular exhibitions held in 6 permanent exhibition halls. Interesting educational activities are provided for children. Simultaneously, NMK renewed its facilities and open space due to the better visitor’s experience.
NMK aims to exhibit and interpret Korean cultural heritage in a manner that befits its international scale. In the series of “Oversea Civilizations”, NMK provided numerous grand exhibitions about foreign history and culture. By the effort of those events, NMK strives to grow into a world-class institution that serves the Korean people through international cultural exchanges.
Not limited to the window of the past and present, NMK is also positioned as the activator of the dialogue for different regions, nations, culture and academia.

Official website

National Museum of Korea

Official website

Dr. Bae Kidong

Director General

Dr. Bae KidongDirector General

BAE Kidong is the Director General of the National Museum of Korea, the Board Member of the Blue Shield International, Honorary Chairperson of Korean National Committee of ICOM, and Chairperson of ICOM Asia-Pacific Regional Alliance.BAE Kidong has a bachelor's degree in Archaeology and Anthropology, a master's degree in Archaeology from Seoul National University, Korea, and got his Ph.D. from the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, USA. He had been a professor at the Department of Anthropology of Hanyang University, Korea from 1990 to 2017.Since 2017, BAE Kidong has been Director General of NMK, and served as Director of Institute of East Asian Archaeology, Director of University Museum, Hanyang University, Chairperson of Society of Museum Education in Korea, Director of Jeongok Prehistory Museum, Executive Board (Vice Chair of Subcommittee for Culture) of Korean National Commission for UNESCO, Chairperson of the Steering Board , UNESCO Asian Pacific Center for International Understanding(APCEIU), and Chairperson of the Board, Cultural Foundation of National Museum of Korea, etc. BAE Kidong has been engaged in museology and archaeology for a long time. His publications include Paleolithic Age in Korea, What Does It Mean to Be Human, Korean Museum Tour Stories, Another Gaze of an Archeologist, Jeongok Paleolithic Remains and Festivals. He also translated Foundations of Museum Studies: Evolving Systems of Knowledge.