Jeong Yeon-wook Critiques Discrepancy in Achieving “30 Million K-Tourism Era”
Inadequate Multilingual Services and Environment
The National Museum of Korea has surpassed 5 million visitors this year, and while it boasts of reaching the level of the world’s top five museums, only less than 4% of its total visitors are foreigners. This highlights a gap between the government’s goal of a “30 million K-tourism era” and reality.
According to information released on the 22nd by Jeong Yeon-wook, a member of the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports, and Tourism Committee, the National Museum of Korea had a cumulative audience of 5,103,709 by October 20th. Among these, 190,052 were foreigners, making up just 3.7% of the total. Expanding this scope to include 14 affiliated museums nationwide (about 11.29 million visitors), the proportion decreases further to 2.7%.
Jeong pointed out, “While the achievement itself is significant, the fact that 96% of visitors are Korean is disappointing in terms of international competitiveness.” He emphasized that if the government is promoting 30 million K-tourism, it must establish a foreigner-friendly environment starting with the national representative museum.
Currently, the museum’s environment for foreign visitors is insufficient. While audio guides are available in English, Chinese, and Japanese, their usage rate and language diversity are limited. Additionally, the online reservation and information systems are primarily tailored for Koreans.
Jeong stated, “The National Museum of Korea is the first place where people from around the world experience Korean history and culture,” urging the need to enhance the conditions for foreign visitors to truly become a “top 5 global museum.”