National Folk Museum of Korea

Gwanghwamun & Jongno-gu


Give yourself at least an hour to do justice to this excellent museum. It has three main exhibition halls, covering the history of the Korean people, the agricultural way of life and the life of yangban (aristocrats) during the Joseon era. Among the many interesting exhibits is an amazingly colourful funeral bier (it looks like a fantasy Noah’s ark) – these were used to give the deceased a great send-off.

Leave time to explore the open-air exhibition of historical buildings and structures including a street of buildings styled as they would have been in the early 20th century; you can sip coffee in a dabang (old-style cafe) here.


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