National Museum of Korea

The National Museum of Korea was amazing! Although we did not make it to all of the exhibits, we were able to see many sculptures and artwork including two of Korea’s national treasures. The first (and my favorite) was the “Pensive Bodhisativa” or as some call it, “The Thinking Buddha”. Buddhism is still the most common religion in Korea and Buddhist artwork and architecture can be found everywhere. The other national treasure we saw in the museum was the “Gyeongcheonsa Pagoda” which is a 10-story marble structure originally erected at a Buddhist temple in 1348. This pagoda was taken to Japan during the Japanese occupation of Korea (1910-1945) but was returned safely to Korea in 1960.