Hangul Day 100th Anniversary 2026: Hangeul Museum Closed, Where to See the Exhibit Instead

Today is Hangul Day, and this year marks a milestone: 100 years since Hangul Day was first proclaimed as "Gagya Day." A commemoration ceremony, including awards for people who contributed to the development of Hangul, is being held this morning at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul. Yet if you actually go looking for the National Hangeul Museum in Seoul's Yongsan District, the doors are closed. A fire during renovation work on February 1 last year burned through the third and fourth floors, forcing a long-term closure that is expected to last until September 2028.

At a glance: The National Hangeul Museum's main building is closed until around September 2028, with reopening targeted for that October · in its place, the special exhibition "1926 Infinite Takeoff" runs at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, 3rd floor, from October 2, 2026 to February 9, 2027 (131 days) · it features 116 items (121 pieces) · the history museum's permanent exhibition is free, located at 198 Sejong-daero, Jongno District, Seoul; inquiries at 02-3703-9200.

About 89,000 artifacts, including nine Korean treasures and four provincial-level cultural heritage items, were urgently moved to the National Museum of Korea and the National Folk Museum of Korea for safekeeping after the fire. Rather than go dark during the closure, the Hangeul Museum chose to keep running exhibitions year-round by borrowing space from other institutions such as the National Folk Museum. This special exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of Hangul Day is part of that ongoing effort.

The exhibition was put together by the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, the Hangul Society, and the King Sejong the Great Memorial Society, together with the National Hangeul Museum. It traces how Hangul Day became a national holiday and public holiday, and digs into the origin of "Gagya," an old name for the Korean alphabet. The museum sits close to Gyeongbokgung Palace and Gwanghwamun Square, making it easy to fold into a palace-visiting day.

Quite a few foreign visitors are likely to search for the National Hangeul Museum, make the trip, and find nothing but a closure notice. If you want to see Hangul-related exhibits, checking the special-exhibition schedules at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History or the National Museum of Korea first — rather than heading straight to the Hangeul Museum — will save you a wasted trip for now. It's worth double-checking the exact closure and exhibition hours on each museum's official website before you go.