Lotte World Folk Museum: An Afternoon Looking Down on a Palace Made Small

From Jamsil Station Exit 4, up by lift to the third floor

Lotte World Folk Museum website, directions (subway): Exit 4 of Jamsil Station on Line 2 and Exit 4 of Jamsil Station on Line 8. “Walking from Jamsil Station”: taking the lift up to the third floor connects directly to the museum entrance. (1) From Exit 4 go straight on underground towards the supermarket; (2) keep going straight towards the Folk Museum and the supermarket; (3) turn left towards the main entrance; (4) go round to the back; (5) take the lift that goes to the Folk Museum and get out on the third floor to arrive at Jeoja-geori (the Folk Museum).

The directions page on the Folk Museum website points to Exit 4 of Jamsil Station for both Line 2 and Line 8, and sets out the walk from the station in five steps. From Exit 4, head straight on underground towards the supermarket; keep going straight, turn towards the main entrance, go round to the back, take the lift that goes to the Folk Museum, and get out on the third floor at Jeoja-geori (the Folk Museum). The FAQ answers that the museum is on the third floor of the Lotte World shopping mall in Jamsil. Find on a map

A map app measures a route to a point at street level; the route on the website runs underground and up a lift. What Maya copies into her notebook is just the five verbs: straight on, keep going, turn, go round, go up.

Step out on the third floor and the first thing is Jeoja-geori. The website introduces it as a re-creation of a Joseon-era market street, where restaurants that keep traditional flavours alive offer a range of Korean traditional food. Maya has already had lunch, so today she only passes through. She takes one look back along the street that is said to recreate a market, then heads for the museum entrance.

The numbers on the floor plan, from 1 (Prehistory) to 7 (the Joseon Miniature Village)

Floor plan on the Lotte World Folk Museum visitor information page: a “museum entrance” marker and numbered pins 1 Prehistory, 2 Goguryeo, 3 Baekje, 4 Gaya, 5 Silla, 6 Goryeo, 7 Joseon Miniature Village; the Nori Madang and the Pi Chun-deuk Memorial Hall by name only, without numbers (plus an “exhibition hall” label). FAQ: a tour of the galleries takes about an hour; they consist of artefacts and models on themes from prehistory to the Joseon era, with a number of traditional hands-on spaces set up partway through. FAQ: the museum does not currently run guided exhibition tours.

The floor plan on the visitor information page marks the museum entrance and gives each gallery a number: 1 Prehistory, 2 Goguryeo, 3 Baekje, 4 Gaya, 5 Silla, 6 Goryeo, 7 the Joseon Miniature Village. The Nori Madang and the Pi Chun-deuk Memorial Hall appear by name only, without numbers. The FAQ says a tour of the galleries takes about an hour, with a number of traditional hands-on spaces set up partway through. Find on a map

A screen always showed her the most dramatic scene first. Today she makes her own order, starting with the smallest number on the floor plan. In her notebook she writes the numbers 1 to 7 down the page.

According to the permanent exhibition pages, the Prehistory gallery displays artefacts from the Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Ages and recreates everyday life in each period with models. The Three Kingdoms gallery shows the cultures of Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla, and of Gaya, through artefacts and models. The Goryeo section lists models recreating how the Tripitaka Koreana woodblocks and Goryeo celadon were made.

Maya bends a little in front of a display case. The museum introduces itself as showing real artefacts and reconstructed models together. So whether the thing in front of her is old or remade can’t be settled by looking alone. Maya reads the label first, then picks the column. It is a habit she picked up at the National Folk Museum.

A Joseon world made small: looking down on the palace

Lotte World Folk Museum introduction: “the miniature village uses some 2,000 figures reduced to one-eighth scale to portray realistically the four seasons, seasonal customs, rites of passage, and the lives of the royal court and ordinary people in the Joseon era.” Permanent exhibition, “Joseon Miniature Village”: a reduced-scale re-creation of daily life in Joseon, themed on scenes from a king’s enthronement to rites of passage, seasonal customs, folk beliefs and daily life. Gyeongbokgung — a model recreating the palace in reduced form true to the real thing, from Gwanghwamun, the main gate, to Geunjeongjeon, Sajeongjeon, Gyotaejeon and more. Also: the science of Joseon (armillary sphere, water clock, sundial, rain gauge and more), seasonal customs (Dano, rice planting, weaving, harvest), rites of passage (first-birthday feast, coming-of-age, wedding, sixtieth birthday, funeral procession, Seokjeonje rite), and others (a market scene, a Dragon King rite, a village schoolroom, a shaman’s house).

Number 7, the Joseon Miniature Village. The museum’s introduction says the village uses some 2,000 figures reduced to one-eighth scale to portray the four seasons, seasonal customs, rites of passage, and the lives of the royal court and ordinary people in the Joseon era. The permanent exhibition page describes it as a space themed on scenes from a king’s enthronement to rites of passage, seasonal customs, folk beliefs and daily life. Find on a map

One of the things this room’s description singles out is Gyeongbokgung. It is listed as a model that recreates, in reduced form and true to the real thing, the palace from Gwanghwamun, the main gate, to Geunjeongjeon, Sajeongjeon, Gyotaejeon and more. In the Gwanghwamun series Maya stood in the courtyard of Geunjeongjeon. Back then she had to tip her head right back to see the roof. Today she bows it.

A screen showed one spot at a time. If the website’s description is right, this model holds everything from the main gate to the inner halls. Maya stays still in front of it for a while. With a fingertip she traces once more the order in which she went through the gates and into the courtyard that day at the real palace, without touching anything, a little way off, in the air.

The miniature village description also lists the science of Joseon; seasonal customs such as Dano, rice planting, weaving and the harvest; rites of passage from a first-birthday feast to a sixtieth birthday and a funeral procession; a market scene; and a village schoolroom. Maya starts copying the names one by one into the “made small” column, then stops. The column isn’t big enough. Instead she writes a single line: “A palace has to shrink before you can take it in at a glance.”

A small study by the entrance

Lotte World Folk Museum permanent exhibition, “Pi Chun-deuk Memorial Hall”: an exhibition space on the life of Pi Chun-deuk, pen name Geuma (1910–2007). Hours 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (open every day of the year); location: the entrance to Lotte World Folk Museum (third floor of the shopping mall); admission free. Sections: Meeting Geuma · Geuma’s Story · Geuma’s Study (recreating, just as it was, the Banpo-dong apartment where he lived, with the small bed, bookcase, desk and a favourite doll he cherished) · Remembering Geuma · Geuma’s Connections.

On her way back out towards the entrance, Maya goes into a room she had only noticed by name on the way in. According to the website, the Pi Chun-deuk Memorial Hall is an exhibition space at the entrance to Lotte World Folk Museum (third floor of the shopping mall) covering the life of the writer Pi Chun-deuk, pen name Geuma (1910–2007). Its hours are listed as 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., open every day of the year, and the visitor information says admission is free. Find on a map

Of the five parts listed in the description, the one where Maya lingers is “Geuma’s Study”. It is said to recreate the Banpo-dong apartment where he lived, just as it was, with the small bed, bookcase and desk he used. Unlike the tiny houses she looked down on in the miniature village, this is a room someone actually lived in, made again.

Maya puts this room in the “rebuilt” column rather than “made small”. Even inside one museum, the columns split. Before she closes the notebook she looks once more towards the bookcase. She doesn’t read the spines. She only keeps in mind how big the room is.

Two different last-entry times, and photos without flash

Lotte World Folk Museum visitor information: opening hours on weekdays 11:00–19:00 (entry and ticket sales close at 18:30) and on weekends/public holidays 11:00–19:00 (entry and ticket sales close at 18:30). Notice (23 September 2026), “Change to weekend and public-holiday opening hours in October and November”: previously 11:00–20:00 (last entry 19:00), changed to 11:00–19:00 (last entry 18:30).

The visitor information page gives opening hours of 11:00 to 19:00 on weekdays and on weekends and public holidays alike, with entry and ticket sales ending at 18:30. Find on a map

The same page’s visitor etiquette lists “photography allowed” alongside no tripods, no flash, no food or drink, do not touch, do not run, and keep quiet. For Maya, who picks Seoul on a screen, a line saying photos are fine is welcome. Today she took just one picture, of the palace in the miniature village. The flash was off from the start.

There is one more thing Maya checks before leaving. The Comprehensive Ticket on the Lotte World Adventure ticket page also includes the Folk Museum, and that page gives last entry to the museum as 18:00. That is 30 minutes earlier than the 18:30 on the visitor information page. Maya goes by the earlier one and aims to reach the museum entrance before 18:00.

Down in the lift and outside, the evening light has spread across a wide street. Maya looks again at the three columns in her notebook: “rebuilt” and “moved” from the National Folk Museum, and today’s “made small”. Today’s column holds several names, but the only one Maya has underlined is the Gyeongbokgung model. It was the first time she had taken in, at a single glance, a palace she had walked through.

Maya’s quiet recommendations are two. From Jamsil Station Exit 4, follow the website’s five steps underground and take the lift to the third floor. And if you have walked Gyeongbokgung first, come and see this small palace afterwards. If you’d rather spend a day on the rides side of Lotte World, this issue’s piece with Lulu splits the day between the glass roof and the island on the lake.

(※ This article includes staged images created with AI.)