By Honorary Reporter Mitchell Blatt from U.S.

Video= Mitchell Blatt

Korea.net Honorary Reporters on Aug. 5 visited the National Museum of Korea following last month's reopening of national cultural facilities in the Seoul metropolitan area. Such venues allowed public access after being temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The museum uses an online reservation system to practice what the Korean government calls "distancing in daily life" to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Everyone must wear masks to enter the museum, and many other places in Korea have the same rule. Social distancing markers are also taped on the floor at the entrance line and visitors must get their temperatures checked.

Korea's vigilant precautions amid the pandemic are why mass infections have not occurred. The daily number of infections has stayed under 70 since July 25, with most of them being from abroad. On the day I visited the museum with other Honorary Reporters, 33 new cases were reported in the country. To welcome new visitors, the museum features the exhibition "The New National Treasures of Korea 2017-2019," which showcases over 150 art and historical pieces designated by the government as treasures.

This was my first visit to the museum, whose beautiful paintings, statues and relics on display were impressive. After entering the main hall, the first thing that struck me was the huge, ten-story stone pagoda from Gyeongcheonsa Temple, a Goryeo Dynasty antique at an atrium spanning three floors. The design is so unique and far more complex than other pagodas as the eaves on each floor of the three tiers come out in a cascading hexagonal pattern, according to the museum's handbook.

I made a video documenting this trip. "I'm glad to be able to do what I'd been able to before but couldn't due to the pandemic," Honorary Reporter Nancy Lorena Castro Gonzalez from Mexico said in the video. Another Honorary Reporter, Pham Thi My Hanh from Vietnam, said, "The items on display were very interesting and unlike anything at museums in other countries."

chaey0726@korea.kr


*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.