A new milestone in cultural relations between Korea and Hungary

The relationship between the Museum of Ethnography and the National Folk Museum of Korea, has reached another milestone. Following previous co-operations, the two directors signed the Memorandum of Understanding in June 2026.

Dr. Jang Sang-Hoon, Director General of the National Folk Museum of Korea, visited Budapest on June 9, where he met Director General Dr. Lajos Kemecsi to discuss further cooperations between the two museums.

The Korean institution plans to open its new building, spanning nearly 50,000 square meters, in 2031 in Sejong city, located 120 kilometres south of the capital. The 80-year-old museum is expanding not only its floor space but also its scope of collection. It transforms itself from a museum of Korean culture into a museum of world cultures. As an important first step of this transformation, some curators visited Hungary in February and enriched their collection with key artifacts from the Busó festivities at Mohács (a masked end-of-winter carnival custom).

In the spirit of international opening, they are eager to host exhibitions with Hungarian themes at the new museum. Dr Lajos Kemecsi proposed a traveling exhibition focusing on the Hungarian Great Plain and raised the idea of possible photography exhibitions. He also expressed that already in 2029, the Museum of Ethnography would be happy to host an exhibition combining the historical analysis of the elements of K-pop culture with the spectacular, audience-friendly theme. Another important part of the co-operation between the two institutions is the exchange of specialists, such as curators, conservators, and other museum professionals. The discussions were followed by the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions.

Beside the discussions, the Korean delegation visited the museum’s main building and new collection exhibition as well as the Collection Centre. Following the visit, the Korean partner donated several of their professional publications to the library of our museum, which will soon be available to visitors and researchers alike.