제 28 호 Between Innovation and Inconvenience: The National Museum of Korea's Bold Shift
Between Innovation and Inconvenience:
The National Museum of Korea's Bold Shift
by Sumin Lee , Reporter
Have you ever seen the merchandise of the National Museum of Korea? It has become a hot topic due to items being out-of-stock or on pre-order, such as "A Thinking Buddhist image Miniature" and "Drunken Seonbi(classical scholar of Joseon) Set”. The National Museum of Korea's goods sales business, which is loved not only by guest who are living in korea but also by foreigners visiting Korea, has recently collaborated with the world-famous animated film “K-pop Demon Hunters”, attracting more attention and successfully progressing. Let's find out how the National Museum of Korea, which is receiving such positive review and is loved for leading a trend of being an open run museum, while including goods business and yet is dealing with a double-edged sword.The issue of how a tax refunded museum could begin charging entrance fees is people questioning the notion of the National Museum of Korea being a “national” museum. Above, issues can undermine the nature of national museums that allow people to experience art comfortably in museums at any time. Therefore, in this article, we need to think about what compromises or solutions there are to these issues.
The National Museum of Korea
The National Museum of Korea
https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=Awrg1aTS4B1pfQEDQXVXNyoA;_ylu=Y29sbwNncTEEcG9zAzEEdnRpZAMEc2VjA3BpdnM-?p=%EA%B5%AD%EB%A6%BD%EC%A4%91%EC%95%99%EB%B0%95%EB%AC%BC%EA%B4%80&fr2=piv-web&type=E210KR91214G0&fr=mcafee#id=67&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fdata.si.re.kr%2Fphotos%2Ffiles%2Fimg%2F06%2F06U00506Dc20000.jpg&action=click
The National Museum of Korea, which is loved not only by overseas tourists but also by the Korean people, took over the Joseon Chungdokbu(Goverment-General of Chosen) Museum in 1945. The national museum serves as a collection of artifacts for the people, interacting with countries around the world and exhibiting collaborative exhibitions with various countries to ensure the cultural life of the people. In addtion, Located in Seobinggo-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, the National Museum of Korea is a modern reinterpretation of Korea's traditional architectural spirit through the natural connection such as Baesan Imsu(a mountain in the back and water in the front) and directly connecting to Yongsan Family Park, leading to an exquisite harmony between nature and artificiality. The concept of a safe and peaceful fortress between Namsan Mountain and Mirrorsnot symbolizes the tension of disconnection from the outside and while having the sense of stability of protecting us safely and peacefully. The museum resembles two walls that extend to the roof height offering practical functions by providing natural lighting can shine from the ceiling to each floor.
Four Reasons The National Museum of Korea Is Beloved
MU:DS(The Museum Goods)
https://www.museumshop.or.kr/kor/main.do
There are four main reasons why these institutions have recently become more loved. First of all, it presents a three-dimensional exhibition centered on the experience of visitors, and provides a specially designed space to focus on material appreciation and thought through space innovation. In addition, it is also contains realistic digital content that utilizes advanced technology such as the "Digital King Gwanggeato Royal Tomb Monument" and is enjoyed by young and foreign visitors to provide an experience-oriented exhibition. Second, with the influx of younger generations(Gen-Z) and the great popularity of museum goods, the museum is not only a place to study history, but also a hot place to purchase souvenirs. More people are making the visit to the gift shops purchasing unique items such as cups, a thinking Buddhist image Miniature, Drunken Seonbi(classical scolar of Joseon) set, bookmarks, and keeling. In addition, participatory cultural events, such as the recent makeup competition with relics, have been held in a novel way, which is gaining more popularity. Finally, in collaboration with K-pop Demon Hunters, a Korean animation that has recently gained worldwide popularity, anime fans as well as those who have always liked the goods of the National Museum have improved accessibility, creating trends such as museum open runs. Finally, through various but high-quality special exhibition plans and policies that operate permanent exhibitions for free, it is increasing accessibility to cultural enjoyment.
A Controversy Over The National Museum of Korea
The highly acclaimed National Museum of Korea has become a controversial issue. As the number of visitors to the National Museum, which has been free of charge only for permanent exhibition halls since 2008, has increased, the controversy arose Museum director Yoo Hong-joon's discussed the National Museum of Korea's fee-paying system at the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee's parliamentary audit on Oct. 25 to review the reservation system and method of the museum's fee-paying in various directions. Those who favor the museum's fee-paying system argue that it can improve the viewing environment by easing excessive congestion, securing necessary resources such as preservation of facilities and cultural properties, recruitment of manpower due to the rapid increase in the number of visitors, and the efficiency of the viewing attitude can be improved through the recognition that it pays more hard to watch. Opponents argue that operating with taxes paid by the people could be a double taxation issue, that it could deprive low-income people of access to culture. They also argue that free viewing is effective in attracting foreign tourists and promoting Korean cultural heritage. Funds could be raised by promoting the development and sales of cultural products instead of chraging admission fees, and sufficiently supplementing the reasons for tolling through self-donation systems.
Now that the National Museum, which is in charge of the cultural life of its people as a national institution in Korea, is receiving praise from many people for providing high-quality exhibitions and making it easier for visitors to experience through various contents, We, as university students will need more focus attention to understand these problems that can damage the nature of the museum, which is funded by us the taxpayers' money to provide various cultural lives to the people and to continue the museum's reputation as a national institution and to provide better content continuously.
Sources:
https://www.museum.go.kr/MUSEUM/contents/M0804010000.do
