A fire broke out at the National Hangeul Museum in Seoul on Saturday, causing significant damage to the institution’s third and fourth floors. As a precaution, the museum has begun relocating its collection of around 89,000 artifacts to the neighboring National Museum of Korea, according to various Korean outlets.
According to the Korea Times, a representative for the museum said on Sunday that, following a review of the damage, there were already discussions with a neighboring national museum to move an estimated 80,000 artifacts that currently located on the museum’s first floor.
The National Hangeul Museum holds a collection of materials and ephemera, and focuses on the Korean writing system and historical script of Hangeul.
Firefighters took around seven hours to fully extinguish the fire. No artifacts were damaged during that period.
Following the incident, the museum relocated about 250 significant items, including nine artifacts considered to be some of its most historically significant, to the nearby National Museum of Korea and the National Folk Museum of Korea.
According to multiple reports from Korea outlets, the moved items include historical texts authored in the 15th and 16th centuries that were associated with monarchs, including a Buddhist publication by King Sejo and letters authored by King Jeongjo.
Museum officials said the transfer process for the entire collection will be executed fully in around a month. The exact cause of the fire has not yet been disclosed by authorities.
The museum, which opened in 2014 to promote the history of Korean language, was undergoing renovations. The reopening, planned for October 2025, is now expected to be delayed.
