Foreign tourists flock to Seoul's National Museum while regional sites lag behind
Data submitted to a parliamentary audit shows the National Museum of Korea attracted the majority of foreign visitors, while regional museums saw far fewer tourists.
A recent audit submission reveals that foreign tourists overwhelmingly prefer the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, which recorded 291,460 overseas visitors out of a total of 411,964 for all national museums this year. The 13 regional museums together attracted 120,504 foreign guests, with Gyeongju National Museum receiving 75,089 and Jeju National Museum 19,172, while the remaining regional sites saw only modest numbers.
Financially, the Seoul museum's operating budget increased to 84.4 billion won, contrasting with a 24.2% drop in the combined budget of regional museums, now at 57.4 billion won. Representative Kim Seung-soo of the People Power Party noted the disparity and urged the culture ministry to develop a comprehensive plan that includes region-specific content, multilingual services, and overseas promotion to draw more tourists to local heritage sites.
