Leeum Museum of Art: Seoul Travel Guide (4.6★)

Three distinct buildings sit on the hillside above Itaewon, each a different material and shape: Mario Botta’s terracotta-brick M1 for traditional Korean art, Jean Nouvel’s black metal M2 for contemporary and international work, and Rem Koolhaas’s low glass-and-concrete structure that houses the Samsung Child Education & Culture Center and event spaces. You notice the contrast before you notice any single artwork, which is the point. Leeum was built by the Samsung family’s Hoam Foundation and opened in 2004, and the architecture itself is treated as part of the collection.

Inside M1: celadon, ink, and Buddhist painting

M1’s galleries are arranged over several underground and above-ground levels, connected by a slow spiral that Botta designed to echo the shape of a traditional Korean moon jar. The permanent collection here includes Goryeo celadon, Joseon white porcelain, ink paintings, and Buddhist sculpture, some pieces designated as Korean National Treasures. Lighting is deliberately low in the ceramics rooms to protect the glazes, so give your eyes a moment to adjust as you move between rooms.

Inside M2: postwar Korean and international contemporary art

Nouvel’s building feels colder and more industrial, all dark steel and cantilevered concrete, and the art inside matches that register. Expect rotating installations alongside a standing selection of Korean modern masters like Lee Ufan and Park Seo-bo next to international names such as Rothko, Warhol, Bacon, and Koons. Because shows rotate, what’s on display changes more than the M1 collection does, so check the current exhibition before you go if there’s a specific piece you want to see.

Reading the building as you walk it

Give yourself time to look up and around, not just at the wall labels. The transition between M1’s warm brick spiral and M2’s cold black panels is deliberately jarring, and the outdoor sculpture garden between and around the buildings holds large-scale works by artists like Louise Bourgeois and Anish Kapoor. Botta, Nouvel and Koolhaas each built to a different logic, and Leeum’s own layout is arguably its most ambitious exhibit.

Planning your hours

Leeum is closed on Mondays, which trips up a lot of first-time visitors mapping out a Seoul itinerary. The rest of the week it runs 10am to 6pm, with the last admission typically cut off before closing, so arriving by mid-afternoon at the latest gives you a full visit without rushing the final rooms. Weekends draw the heaviest crowds between 11am and 6pm; if you can go on a weekday morning, do it.

• Closed: Monday
• Open Tuesday–Sunday: 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
• Busiest window: 11am–6pm on weekends
• Best bet for quiet galleries: a weekday, as early in the day as possible

Getting there and moving through the site

The museum sits at 60-16 Itaewon-ro 55-gil in Yongsan District, on a residential slope above the main Itaewon strip, so the last stretch on foot is uphill and involves stairs. It’s a walkable distance from Itaewon Station on Line 6, and also reachable from Hangangjin Station, also on Line 6, depending on which side of the neighborhood you’re coming from. There’s no direct subway exit at the museum’s door, so plan for a ten-to-fifteen-minute walk either way and wear shoes you don’t mind climbing in.

Buying tickets and moving through the galleries

Tickets and current exhibition information are posted on Leeum’s official website and at the entrance desk, and it’s worth checking online before you go since special exhibitions sometimes require separate or timed tickets. Bag storage is available near the entrance, and photography rules vary by gallery, stricter in the special exhibition halls than in the permanent collection rooms. Staff at the front desk can point you toward whichever building matches what you came to see, which is useful given how differently M1 and M2 are laid out.

Because it’s a well-known stop on Seoul’s museum circuit rather than a quiet local secret, treat a weekend afternoon visit as something to avoid rather than assume you’ll have the galleries to yourself.