Museum KimchikanClaimed by the owner

Museum Kimchikan is a food museum in Insa-dong, Jongno District, Seoul. It was established in 1986 in Pil-dong, Jung District as the Kimchi Field Museum, the first museum of its kind in Korea, and moved to its current Insa-dong location in 2015. Exhibits cover the history, regional varieties, and cultural role of kimchi, and the museum runs activities such as kimchi-making demonstrations, tastings, and cooking classes.

From Kimchi Field Museum to Kimchikan

The museum opened in 1986 in Pil-dong, Jung District, and was taken over in 1987 by the food company Pulmuone, which has operated it since as a corporate social contribution project. In 1988 it moved to COEX in connection with that year's Seoul Summer Olympics, before relocating again to its present Insa-dong site, which opened on April 21, 2015. In 2015 it was named one of the world's top 11 food museums by CNN. Its Korean name, Kimchikan, plays on the traditional suffix "-gan (間)," used for rooms with a specific function, such as chan-gan (side-dish kitchen) or sura-gan (royal kitchen), applying it to a space built around kimchi.

Exhibits and Programs

The museum documents kimchi's history and its historical and regional varieties, along with its place in Korean cuisine and culture, and collects data and statistics on the food. Visitor activities include demonstrations of the kimchi-making process, kimchi tastings, and cooking classes, including a cabbage kimchi workshop. It is closed on Mondays and on Lunar New Year, Chuseok, and Christmas.