Park1538 POSCO Museum

Next to POSCO's headquarters in Nam-gu, Pohang, Park1538 is a corporate history park that tells the story of the steelmaker and of the city that grew up around it. The 1538 in the name is the melting point of iron, 1,538 °C. At its heart is a history museum recording how a steelworks rose from the sand flats of Yeongil Bay, surrounded by a promotion hall, a hall of fame and a waterside park, and visiting the facilities is free. It is a vivid look at one chapter of Korea's industrialisation.

From sand flats to steelworks

POSCO, originally Pohang Iron and Steel, was founded in 1968 and began building Korea's first integrated steelworks on the sandy shore of Yeongil Bay. On 9 June 1973, the first molten iron poured from the blast furnace of the Pohang Works. The building used as the construction headquarters was nicknamed "Rommel House", after the general who commanded in the desert. The history museum first opened in 2003 as the POSCO History Hall and, with some 25,000 historical items, is counted among Korea's leading corporate museums. Besides the company's own story, it shows how Pohang changed alongside the steelworks.

What to see

• History museum: POSCO's path from its founding to the present, told in chronological order. A reconstruction of an early site office gives a feel for the construction years.
• Promotion hall: designed around the idea of an "infinite loop". The first floor is about iron, the second about POSCO today, its plans and its employees, and the roof looks out over the Pohang Works.
• Hall of Fame: honours the founding members, former executives and master craftsmen. It is reached by a 234 m elevated walkway with a 14 m-high viewing point along the way.
• Waterside park and paths: a loop of about 1.2 km links the museum, headquarters and hall of fame, along with an uphill garden path called Chaoreum-gil. The landscaped areas are open without a reservation.

Park1538 opened to the public on 12 April 2021 and won the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport award at the Korea Landscape Architecture Awards that year.

Art in the park

The outdoor spaces are part of the visit too. Ron Arad's Infiniturn greets you at the entrance and Anish Kapoor's Non-object, Pole stands in the courtyard, metal sculptures that suit a steelmaker's park. From the elevated walkway you look down over the waterside park and the headquarters. Even a stroll through the landscaped areas, open without a reservation, easily fills half an hour.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: about 1 hour for the history museum, around 2 hours with the promotion hall, hall of fame and walkways.
• Booking and fees: visiting the history museum, promotion hall and other facilities is free, with online advance booking on the Park1538 website. It is listed as closed on Sundays and public holidays; check opening times and booking conditions on the website before you go.
• Getting there: about 9 km south of Pohang Station (KTX), roughly 20 minutes by taxi. Parking is available at the history museum.