Korean Deungjan Museum

Before electricity, how did Koreans light their homes at night? The Korean Deungjan Museum in Mohyeon-eup, Yongin, answers that question with traditional oil lamps (deungjan), candlesticks and lamp stands, and it is the only museum in Korea devoted to them. It opened in September 1997 with the lifelong collection of its founding director Kim Dong-hwi, and its round tower of a building, modelled on a gongsimdon watchtower of Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, stands out from afar.

From a small display room in Suwon

The museum began in 1969 as a small exhibition of antique lighting in Suwon. Kim Dong-hwi kept collecting for more than half a century and then turned his private collection into a non-profit museum foundation. His son Kim Hyung-gu now runs it, and the museum turns 30 in 2027. Every lamp and folk object on display was actually used in Korea.

Floor by floor

• First floor, Permanent Gallery I: reconstructed rooms of a hanok, the traditional Korean house (kitchen, pantry, the men's study and the inner room), show how lamps fitted into everyday life.
• Second floor, Permanent Gallery II: lighting devices are grouped by period, shape, material and purpose, which makes comparing them easy. At the end you will find a jojokdeung and wedding candles that are listed as Gyeonggi-do folk heritage.
• Second floor, Special Gallery I: around 270 lamps are shown alongside ceramics from the Three Kingdoms period to the late Joseon dynasty.
• Basement and third floor: a gallery for local artists who work with light, and a multipurpose room for themed exhibitions and concerts.

Pieces worth looking for

The jojokdeung is the lantern carried by Joseon-era night watchmen on patrol; it was designed to light the ground at their feet rather than the way ahead. Other highlights include a double-walled celadon oil lamp from the Goryeo dynasty, a lamp stand woven from twisted paper cord, an iron candlestick inlaid with silver characters and a wooden lamp stand with a dragon-head ornament. Even something as simple as an oil lamp changes material from clay to iron, brass and paper over the centuries, and comparing them is more absorbing than you might expect.

Outside there is a garden of about 3,000 m², with village guardian posts, carved bird poles, stone officials and a pavilion beside a pond, and an annex shows farming tools. The museum also runs hands-on classes such as candle making and shaping ceramic oil lamps.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 10:00–17:30 (April–September) and 10:00–17:00 (October–March). Last entry is 17:00 and 16:30 respectively.
• Closed: Mondays (open if Monday is a public holiday), 1 January, and the day of Seollal and Chuseok.
• Tickets: adults KRW 10,000, students KRW 7,000, over-65s KRW 5,000; preschool children go free with an adult. Yongin residents get a discount with proof of address.
• Time needed: about 1 hour for the galleries, or around 90 minutes with the garden.
• Getting there: take the Suin–Bundang Line to Jukjeon Station, leave by exit 1, and catch village bus 57-1 from the stop opposite Yongin Poeun Art Hall. Get off at Neungwon 3-ri Noinhoegwan and walk about 180 m. The museum car park across the road is free for visitors.
• Combine with: the tomb of Jeong Mong-ju, the loyal scholar-official of late Goryeo, is close by.