National Museum of Korea

The National Museum of Korea in Yongsan is one of the largest museums in Asia, holding over 400,000 objects covering Korean prehistory, the Three Kingdoms period, the Goryeo Dynasty, the Joseon period, and beyond. The collection of Buddhist art — paintings, sculptures, bronze bells, and ritual objects — is outstanding. The Goryeo celadon ceramics are the best in the world outside Korea's dedicated celadon museums.

Admission is free for the permanent collection. The building was designed to place Korea's heritage in a modern context, with a circular central hall that frames views of Namsan Mountain through a glass wall at the back. Plan at least three hours, and more if you have any interest in Korean history.

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The museum's most famous object is the Gilt-bronze Pensive Bodhisattva, a seventh-century statue of a seated figure in meditation with one hand raised to its cheek. It is one of the greatest works of Korean Buddhist sculpture and regularly cited as Korea's answer to the Mona Lisa — a comparison that understates its power. It occupies an entire gallery on its own, lit to emphasise the extraordinary fineness of the bronze casting.