Inside National Museum of Korea's boom: star director's special lecture makes heritage come alive

While the National Museum of Korea may be best known for its wildly popular souvenirs, there is something else that makes the place a hot cultural destination: its own director, You Hong-june, a star cultural commentator and public intellectual, and his popular public lectures. Over the past year and into early this year, You — former head of the national heritage agency, Korean art history professor and writer — has invited the general public to the museum for story-driven special lectures on the arts world and lives of the painters featured in the museum’s ongoing exhibitions. This week, he returned with a two-hour immersion in art and history about Danwon Kim Hong-do (1745-1806?), the beloved painter cherished for his vivid depictions of everyday life, landscape paintings and pioneering realism during the 1392-1910 Joseon Dynasty. The 750-seat auditorium was filled to capacity, with a cross-generational crowd ranging from Gen Z students to middle-aged office workers and retirees with gray hair, many clutching exhibition leaflets and notebooks. Online registration for the free e

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