Is the National Museum of Korea Free? Tickets and Reservations

The National Museum of Korea’s permanent galleries are free. A paid special exhibition, a Children’s Museum session and a VR experience have different entry arrangements. Decide which experience you want before looking for a ticket.

For a low-cost first visit, choose a few open permanent galleries and leave room for a break. Transport, meals and shopping are separate costs. Buying an optional exhibition or tour is a choice, not the price of seeing the permanent collection.

Which part needs a booking?

Your plan	Admission or reservation	Before leaving
Permanent galleries	Free admission	Check opening hours and room closures
Special exhibition	Some are free; others need a separate paid ticket	Read that exhibition’s price and last-entry time
Children’s Museum	Free, with an online session reservation	Book the whole party, including accompanying adults and infants
VR in Immersive Digital Gallery 2	Online reservation required	Use the specific VR booking page
Other immersive digital content	Advance booking is not required	Check what is operating during your visit
Outdoor Pagoda Garden	No ticket required	Treat it as an outdoor visit, subject to weather

The museum’s admission page separates free and charged exhibitions. Its reservation overview identifies the Children’s Museum and VR separately; VR reservations open 30 days before the visit. A full children’s or VR session does not, by itself, mean the permanent galleries are sold out.

Pick the right arrival deadline

The main museum opens at 09:30. It closes at 17:30 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, with last admission 17:00. On Wednesday and Saturday, closing is 21:00 and last admission 20:30. The outdoor exhibition area opens 07:00–22:00.

These are not interchangeable deadlines. A Sunday late-afternoon arrival offers much less gallery time than a Saturday evening visit. The Children’s Museum ends earlier even on late-opening days; a special exhibition may stop admitting visitors before the main museum does.

The Korean Table: paid days and October 23–25 free entry

Exhibition details rechecked 17 October 2026: The Korean Table: Food, Nature, and Life runs through 25 October in Special Exhibition Hall 2. The official exhibition page now announces free admission on 23–25 October for Hansik Festa.

Visit date	Admission	Exhibition last entry / closing
Regular paid days before 23 October	₩5,000 ages 25–64; ₩3,000 ages 7–24, before concessions	16:50 / 17:30; Wednesday and Saturday 20:20 / 21:00
Friday 23 or Sunday 25 October	Free under the announced promotion	16:50 / 17:30
Saturday 24 October	Free under the announced promotion	20:20 / 21:00

On a regular paid day, two adults aged 25–64 and one ten-year-old total ₩13,000 before discounts; that calculation does not apply to the free weekend. Onsite tickets are normally for the same day; online booking closes the previous day. Ordinary concession categories require supporting documents.

The free-entry notice does not explain promotional ticket collection or automatic refunds for existing purchases. Check your booking provider before cancelling or paying again, and follow the exhibition counter’s instructions on arrival.

If you need an evening visit during the free weekend, choose Saturday 24 October. A Friday arrival at 17:00 would miss this exhibition’s 16:50 cutoff even though the main galleries use a later admission deadline. Allow viewing time before closing; free entry does not extend the hours or replace a separate Children’s Museum reservation. After 25 October, check the next exhibition’s arrangements.

Families: reserve the Children’s Museum separately

The individual booking page is for 2–5 people, with up to five tickets in one reservation and one reservation per day. Booking opens at 00:00, 14 days ahead; follow the page’s displayed server clock. Count everyone, including children under 36 months; children must visit with an adult guardian. There is no onsite ticket issue or telephone booking.

The five daily sessions are 09:30–10:50, 11:00–12:20, 13:00–14:20, 14:30–15:50 and 16:00–17:20. Save your confirmation for entry. Cancel before the session starts if plans change: after a 30-minute no-show, the rules specify cancellation, a 60-day visiting restriction and cancellation of all bookings within that period.

An English reservation page exists, but we have not tested overseas-account registration. If signup fails, ask +82-2-2077-9647 about the procedure; this is an inquiry route, not telephone booking. Do not assume foreign visitors can bypass the reservation at the door. If you cannot secure a session, plan an age-appropriate main-gallery visit or another activity instead.

Check the rooms, not just whether the building is open

For October travel, two notices matter:

• Central Asian Gallery, room 307: closed 12–22 October 2026, with reopening planned for 23 October. Official notice
• Several Buddhist art, metalcraft, lacquer and calligraphy rooms: refurbishment continues through 28 January 2027, with reopening planned for 29 January. Some neighboring rooms remain open; check the named rooms in the refurbishment notice.

The museum is not closed every Monday. Permanent and special galleries normally close on the first Monday of March, June, September and December, with a March 2026 exception. The next such date is 7 December 2026. January 1, Lunar New Year’s Day and Chuseok are also closure days.

Build a visit that still works if one option is unavailable

Choose your must-see room first, then any reserved session, then your arrival time. Put a fixed children’s appointment before a flexible gallery browse in your plan. If a room is closed, select another part of the collection before making the journey; do not buy a special-exhibition ticket expecting it to restore access to that room.

For the Ichon approach and nearby indoor alternatives, use our rainy-day Seoul guide. Check the station connection in the subway transfer guide and save your admission confirmation separately from your route.

General details checked against official pages on 3 October 2026; The Korean Table admission section was rechecked on 17 October 2026. We have not made a field visit, tested foreign-card payment or completed an overseas-account booking.