South Korea’s first national sports museum officially opened in Seoul’s Songpa District on October 15, housing roughly 70,000 artifacts across a facility that preserves the nation’s athletic history. The opening marks a milestone for a country that earned global “super sports grand slam” status by hosting the 1988 Summer Olympics, the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the 2011 World Athletics Championships, and the 2018 Winter Olympics.
National Sports Museum Opens at Olympic Park After a Decade of Delays
Located within Olympic Park in Songpa District, the National Sports Museum spans two underground levels and four above-ground floors. The facility features permanent exhibition halls, special exhibition galleries, storage vaults, a rooftop garden, a children’s museum, a sports-dedicated library, and educational spaces following the renovation of the former Seoul Olympic Memorial Hall.
Planning for the institution began in the National Assembly in 2013, with budgets and total project costs finalized in 2015. Construction faced repeated setbacks over more than a decade, delayed first by the COVID-19 pandemic and later by archaeological discoveries during the early excavation phases that required architectural redesigns.
“Even when the country was occupied, our people protected their national identity through sports, and we successfully hosted events like the 1988 Olympics and Paralympics to show our people’s exceptional abilities to the world,” Choi said during the opening ceremony. “The National Sports Museum will be a precious space where our sports records and heritage are preserved at the national level and their value is passed down to the next generation.”
Olympic Artifacts and Historical Footage Trace a Century of Athletics
The museum’s holdings feature decades of athletic history, anchored by iconic memorabilia from South Korea’s sporting milestones. Among the featured exhibits is the iron hoop pushed by Yoon Taewoong as a student in the first grade of Jamwon Elementary School during the opening ceremony of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Yoon donated the hoop to mark the museum’s opening.
Prominent figures across South Korean sports history contributed Olympic medals to the permanent collection.
Visitors can also view historical footage of the late Son Gijeong winning the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The archival material is sourced from German director Leni Riefenstahl’s documentary film Olympia, commissioned under Nazi regime backing. The footage records Son running through the streets of Berlin and entering the Olympic stadium first, alongside bronze medalist Nam Seungryong and the two athletes on the medal podium with bowed heads.
Exhibits Expand Beyond Olympic Medals to Grassroots Sports Heritage
The 70,000-item collection extends beyond elite international competition to encompass community and developmental sports artifacts. Curators have placed school uniforms worn during childhood by notable athletes, such as a uniform worn by Park Jisung during his time at Seryu Elementary School, alongside high-performance memorabilia.
The sports and cultural facilities inside and outside Olympic Park are precious national assets that accompany the lives of our citizens and represent the legacy of the 1988 Seoul Olympics,
Ha said. We will guard them with a heavy sense of mission so that they remain a heritage that future generations can take pride in.
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