More than 70,000 visitors attended the special exhibition "Meeting the Divine Island Gaya" at the Daeseongdong Tomb Museum in Gimhae, which focused on Korea-Japan cultural exchanges.
The exhibition, which showcased artifacts related to Japan's Okino Island for the first time in Korea, explored the historical interactions between ancient Gaya and Japan.
The city of Gimhae reported on the 15th that the exhibition, which ran for six months from April to November 11, attracted a total of 71,930 visitors, including 2,886 foreign guests. This figure is close to the total number of foreign visitors to the museum last year, which was 2,902.
The exhibition was organized to commemorate the 10th anniversary of academic exchanges with the Munakata City Museum, Gimhae's sister city in Japan. It featured 101 items, comprising 103 artifacts from the UNESCO World Heritage sites of Munakata and Okino Island, marking their first public display in Korea.
The exhibition was designed to highlight the cultural and artifact exchanges between Gaya and Japan, comparing relics unearthed from both countries' World Heritage sites and showcasing the similarities in ancient topography that illustrate a relationship dating back to the 4th century.
The museum noted that the increase in visitors was also influenced by the official side event of the 48th UNESCO World Heritage Committee, which was held in Korea for the first time in July. Experts in the field who visited the museum at that time praised the exhibition for demonstrating the historical connections and cultural similarities between the Gyeongju Daeseongdong Tombs and the Okino Island heritage site in Japan.
During the exhibition period, an international academic event was held, allowing both domestic and foreign experts and citizens to participate. This event, conducted on June 30 in the museum's exhibition hall, focused on the historical relationship between Korea and Japan's World Heritage sites and shared related research findings.
Exchanges between the two countries' museums continue in Japan, where a special exhibition on the Daeseongdong Tombs and Gaya is currently being held in Munakata City.
Song Won-young, director of the Daeseongdong Tomb Museum, stated, "This special exhibition served as a platform to demonstrate the international significance of Gaya culture and the world heritage value of the Daeseongdong Tombs to the world. As a special exhibition on the Daeseongdong Tombs and Gaya is also being held in Munakata City, we will continue to foster academic and exhibition cooperation between our two museums." He added, "I would like to thank the over 70,000 visitors and stakeholders for their support, and we will strive to develop into a world heritage museum that engages with the public."
* This article has been translated by AI.
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