National Museum of Korea focuses on Goguryeo Kingdom in 2024 updates

A digitalized version of the Stele of King Gwanggaeto the Great, depicted on an LED media tower spanning 8 meters tall (26.2 feet) and 2.6 meters wide, has now been installed inside the museum.

A digitalized version of the Stele of King Gwanggaeto the Great, depicted through an LED media tower spanning 8 meters (26.2 feet) tall and 2.6 meters wide, has now been installed inside the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul. [NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA]

One of the National Museum of Korea’s main focuses for 2024 is expanding the scale and content of Goguryeo Kingdom (37 B.C. – A.D. 668) in its permanent exhibition hall.

A digitalized version of the Stele of King Gwanggaeto the Great, depicted on an LED media tower spanning 8 meters tall (26.2 feet) and 2.6 meters wide, has now been installed inside the museum.

This stele is a historically significant monument, erected in the year 414 by King Jangsu to commemorate the achievements of his father, King Gwanggaeto the Great, who reigned from 391 to 412. The actual artifact stands around 6.4 meters tall and is located in the present-day city of Ji’an, China.

The media replica was created with reference to a set of raw stone rubbings of the stele, which the museum acquired last year. Raw stone rubbings are paper copies of inscribed texts or images from a stone, made to preserve the records. Stone rubbings can be made with or without the addition of lime and clay, which is supposed to improve the preciseness of the copies, but this was made without said additions, in order to prevent any distortion to the original inscription.

“Much of the artifacts from Goguryeo are outside of Korea, including the Stele of King Gwanggaeto the Great,” Yoon Sung-yong, director-general of the National Museum of Korea, said Wednesday. “It is true that a digital reconstruction of the stele will always fall short of the original, so that’s why we strive to strengthen the content in Goguryeo’s permanent exhibition.”

The reorganization will be made in the permanent exhibition space on the first floor of the museum, particularly the sections from the Paleolithic Period to Goguryeo, which will finish in December. It’s the first time for the permanent exhibition to make a drastic change since the museum relocated to its currently location in Yongsan District, central Seoul, in 2005.

The exhibition hall has already been updated with a digital kiosk of the entire stone rubbing, which visitors are free to browse through.

Another major focus for the museum this year is reducing cultural inequality in smaller rural cities. Six exhibitions will be curated to tour two different cities each, visiting a total of 12 cities. By teaming up with the other regional branches of the National Museum of Korea, like those in Gwangju, Daegu, Gongju, Jinju, Cheongju and Iksan, this project will feature educational programs and performances as well.

The popular “A Collector’s Invitation” exhibition from 2022, filled with late Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee’s donated national heritages and artworks, will continue to tour the country, going to the Jeju National Museum in June and Chuncheon National Museum in September.

An additional change in the museum will be in November, during which a new permanent exhibition space will open, dedicated to Oegyujanggak Uigwe, which are books that detail the protocols for various state rites of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) in text and drawings. Visitors will be able to flip through all of the pages' digitally rendered versions available on site.

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]