National Museum of Korea Ranks Third Globally with 6.5 Million Visitors in 2025

In 2025, the National Museum of Korea in Seoul recorded an astounding 6,507,483 visitors, placing it third on The Art Newspaper's global museum attendance chart. This represents a remarkable 70% increase from 3.8 million in 2024, one of the largest spikes ever documented. The only museums that drew more visitors were the Louvre in France and the Vatican Museums. The National Museum outpaced the British Museum and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which came in fourth and fifth, respectively. Founded in 1945 and moved to Yongsan Family Park in 2005, it features designs from Robert Siegel and Samoo Architects & Engineers. The gift shop, MU:DS, attracted many with items from the animated film 'KPop Demon Hunters.' A special exhibition on Admiral Yi Sun-sin drew over 400,000 visitors, breaking records for cultural heritage displays. With free entry to its permanent collections and English tours available, the museum is benefiting from the growing global fascination with Korean culture, especially K-pop and K-dramas, aided by partnerships with stars like BTS and BLACKPINK.