Korea opens 1st national sports museum to preserve historic triumphs
Jamsil Baseball Stadium, right, and Olympic Main Stadium, which is undergoing renovation, in Jamsil Sports Complex in Songpa District, Seoul, Aug. 2. Newsis
Korea opened its first national museum dedicated to sports on Thursday, bringing together thousands of artifacts documenting historic victories, Olympic milestones and moments that have shaped the country’s sporting identity.
The National Sports Museum, located in Olympic Park in southern Seoul’s Songpa District, was established by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation to collect, preserve and showcase Korea’s sporting heritage.
The museum houses about 70,000 sports-related artifacts and records, offering visitors a chance to revisit achievements that have inspired athletes and spectators across generations.
Among its featured items are the gold medal won by marathon runner Suh Yun-bok at the 1947 Boston Marathon, soccer shoes belonging to Korean soccer pioneer Kim Yong-sik, the competition uniform worn by Yang Jung-mo, Korea’s first Olympic gold medalist, and the Olympic torch from the 1988 Seoul Games.
The collection also includes the hoop used in the opening ceremony of the 1988 Olympics, recalling one of the event’s most memorable scenes.
Spanning two basement levels and four floors above ground, the museum features permanent exhibition galleries on the second and third floors, a special exhibition hall, a cafe and lobby on the first floor and a rooftop garden on the fourth.
Renovated facilities at the existing Seoul Olympic Museum also offer a children’s museum, a specialized sports library and spaces for educational programs and hands-on activities.
To mark the opening, the museum is planning a stamp tour Saturday, inviting about 200 participants to complete missions by locating key exhibits.
Other activities, including personalized record cards and a studio for recreating memorable sports scenes, are designed to encourage visitors to engage with the collection.
“The history of Korean sports is defined not only by the records set by athletes, but by the shared memories of all citizens who cheered and celebrated those moments together,” Culture Minister Chae Hwi-young said. “We expect the National Sports Museum to serve as a space to systematically preserve our precious sports heritage and share its spirit of challenge and inspiration with the public and future generations.”
The ministry said it hopes the museum will preserve valuable sports heritage and share its stories of determination and inspiration with the public and future generations.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.