War Memorial of Korea

The War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan, near Itaewon, is a large outdoor and indoor museum covering Korea's military history from ancient times to the present. The outdoor grounds display tanks, aircraft, artillery pieces, and naval vessels; the indoor galleries cover the Japanese occupation, the Korean War, and post-war development in considerable detail. The Korean War section is comprehensive and includes English captions throughout.

This is not a cheerful museum, but it's an important one for understanding the city around it. The bronze statues outside, particularly the two soldiers embracing — one from the South, one from the North — are among the most emotionally direct public sculptures in Seoul. Admission is free. Allow two to three hours.

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The War Memorial contains a piece of the original armistice agreement signed on 27 July 1953 that ended the Korean War. The war technically has not ended — only an armistice was signed, not a peace treaty — and the museum's political framing reflects this ongoing tension. It is one of the few places in Seoul where the unresolved status of the Korean peninsula is displayed directly rather than mentioned in passing.

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