Seoul: The National Museum of Korea ranked third in the world for visitor numbers in 2025, surpassing the British Museum and New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art, according to industry data.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the South Korean museum attracted 6.5 million visitors in 2025, marking a 70 percent increase from the previous year. This impressive figure was highlighted in the annual visitor survey released by the British art magazine, The Art Newspaper, on Tuesday. Only the Louvre in Paris, with 9 million visitors, and the Vatican Museums, with 6.9 million, had more visitors than the National Museum of Korea. The British Museum followed closely with 6.4 million visitors, while the Metropolitan Museum of Art recorded 5.98 million.
Other South Korean museums also made it into the global top 100. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Seoul was ranked 35th, Gyeongju National Museum was 39th, and the Buyeo and Gongju national museums were 78th and 89th respectively. The Art Newspaper noted South Korea's significant growth in the survey.
The museum's touring exhibition of art pieces donated by the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee has garnered international attention, drawing approximately 80,000 visitors in Washington, D.C. This indicates a growing global interest in Korean cultural heritage.
Visitor growth at the National Museum of Korea has continued into the current year, with 2 million people visiting in the first quarter, reflecting a 44.8 percent increase compared to the same period last year. The museum plans to maintain this momentum by hosting various special exhibitions, including a display of Thai art in June and a showcase of masterpieces from Kunsthaus Zurich, Switzerland's largest art museum, in November.