Lead

Sales of cultural merchandise from South Korea's national museums topped 20 billion won (US$13 million) for the first time in the first half of this year, driven by the global popularity of Korean culture, according to sources in the cultural sector cited by Yonhap News. The official merchandise brand Mu:ds, operated by the National Museum Foundation of Korea, recorded about 21.8 billion won in sales from January to June, up roughly 90 percent from 11.48 billion won a year earlier.

Coverage Comparison

Yonhap News, South Korea's leading wire service, reported two related developments in early July. The first article, published July 6, focused on the sales surge of Mu:ds merchandise. The second, published July 15, highlighted the National Museum of Korea's record-breaking visitor numbers for the same period. Both reports attribute the surge to rising global interest in Korean culture, a theme consistently emphasized across the coverage.

The first report cited cultural sector sources and a foundation official for sales figures and product details. The second report relied on figures cited by cultural industry sources and referenced data from The Art Newspaper for global rankings. The framing in both reports was positive, highlighting milestones and growth.

Key Claims

  • Mu:ds recorded about 21.8 billion won in sales from January to June, a roughly 90 percent increase from 11.48 billion won a year earlier, as reported by Yonhap News.
  • This year's first-half sales have already exceeded Mu:ds' total revenue for 2024, which stood at about 21.28 billion won, according to the same source.
  • Foreign customers accounted for around 1 billion won in sales during the period, nearly doubling from a year earlier, a foundation official said.
  • Among the bestselling items were miniature replicas of the gilt-bronze Pensive Bodhisattva, one of the National Museum's best-known national treasures. About 12,000 units sold this year alone, bringing total sales to over 60,000. The miniature drew widespread attention after it was revealed that RM of K-pop supergroup BTS owns two of them, Yonhap reported.
  • Other popular items included wine stoppers linked to a special exhibition on Admiral Yi Sun-sin and keyboards featuring patterns of "dancheong," traditional Korean multicolored paintwork on wooden buildings.
  • The National Museum of Korea drew a record 3,795,400 visitors in Seoul between January and June, up 39.7 percent from 2,716,323 during the same period last year, according to figures cited by cultural industry sources. This figure marked the highest first-half attendance since the museum opened in 1945 and already surpassed its total visitor count for all of 2024, which stood at 3,788,785.
  • Visitor numbers rose steadily throughout the period, with monthly attendance exceeding 700,000 in January, February, and May. About 536,000 people visited in June alone. The number of foreign visitors jumped 68.8 percent on-year to 165,404.
  • According to data from British art magazine The Art Newspaper, the museum ranked as the world's third most-visited museum in 2025 with 6,507,483 visitors, behind only the Louvre in Paris and the Vatican Museums.
  • The museum said it will extend opening hours during the peak summer season. It will operate from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from July 27 to Aug. 17, compared with its usual hours of 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Late-night openings on Wednesdays and Saturdays will remain in place until 9 p.m.

Context

The Mu:ds brand, a portmanteau of "museum" and "goods," produces items inspired by key artifacts housed at the National Museum of Korea and its regional affiliates. Since the foundation's launch in 2004, the brand has grown steadily, surpassing 10 billion won in annual sales for the first time in 2022 and reaching a record 41.3 billion won last year, Yonhap reported.