National Museum of Korea Hours 2026: Free Admission, Why Only Wed/Sat Stay Open Until 9PM
Bottom line: The permanent galleries at the National Museum of Korea are always free. Today, a Sunday, they're open 9:30am to 5:30pm, with last entry at 5pm.
If you didn't know: Only Wednesdays and Saturdays stay open until 9pm. If you show up in the evening on any other day of the week — including today, a Sunday — the doors are already closed by 5pm. Miss that Wed/Sat rule and you lose a full 3.5 extra hours (5:30pm to 9pm) that would have been open on the right day.
Permanent galleries free · Hours Mon/Tue/Thu/Fri/Sun 9:30am–5:30pm (last entry 5pm), Wed/Sat 9:30am–9pm (last entry 8:30pm) · Outdoor garden grounds open daily 7am–10pm · Closed Jan 1, Lunar New Year, Chuseok, and the first Monday of March/June/September/December (in 2026: June 1, Sept 7, Dec 7 — none fall in November) · Inquiries +82-2-2077-9000.
Unlike the special exhibitions, which require a ticket from the box office, you can walk straight into the permanent galleries — no ticket needed. The Wednesday/Saturday late hours exist specifically for visitors who can't come during the day on weekdays.
The Children's Museum runs on a reservation system with a capped number of visitors per session, but ordinary visits to the permanent galleries need no reservation at all. Only school groups of 30 or more must book in advance.
The museum's regular closure days are the first Monday of March, June, September and December every year; in 2026 those fell on June 1, September 7 and December 7 — none of them land in November. I checked the hours, closure days and reservation rules on the National Museum of Korea's official website (museum.go.kr), on the visitor-information page, on 2026-11-08.
Journey stage: During the trip · Verified 2026-11-08
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