Yanggu Prehistory and Modern History Museum

In Yanggu-eup, Gangwon, the Yanggu Prehistory and Modern History Museum brings three exhibition halls together. The Yanggu Prehistory Museum, which opened in 1997 as Korea's first museum dedicated to prehistory, stands beside the Yanggu Modern History Museum, the first of its kind in Gangwon, and the Yanggu History Experience Hall, added in 2020. From Palaeolithic tools to dolmens, old cameras and stamps, you can follow tens of thousands of years of Yanggu's past in one visit.

Korea's first prehistory museum

The prehistory museum opened on 27 October 1997. It was built around Palaeolithic finds from Sangmuryong-ri in Yanggu-eup and Neolithic finds from Hyeon-ri in Haean-myeon, to present the prehistoric culture of Yanggu and the Bukhangang river basin in an accessible way. There are five galleries.

• Gallery 1: stone tools from the Sangmuryong-ri and Mandae-ri sites in Yanggu.
• Galleries 2–4: finds from prehistoric sites across Gangwon, including Chuncheon, Hoengseong, Gangneung, Goseong and Hongcheon, tracing prehistoric life along the Bukhangang and the east coast.
• Gallery 5: pottery from across the province, plus the dolmens of Korea's World Heritage sites and those of Yanggu.
• Fossil room: based on material deposited by the family of the late Won Dal-gi, a collector and researcher of Palaeozoic fossils. Its focus is the trilobite, which appeared some 540 million years ago and roamed the seas for nearly 300 million years.

In the grounds outside stand dolmens and reconstructed pit houses, so after the galleries you can picture how prehistoric people lived.

Modern history museum and experience hall

The modern history museum, opened in 2014, tells the turbulent story of modern Korea through everyday material such as postcards and stamps, films, the song Arirang and first issues of magazines. There is also a Yanggu Hall on the county's past and present and a Camera Hall with cameras from around the world. The History Experience Hall, opened in 2020, uses hands-on displays to cover prehistoric Yanggu, the birth of Yanggu white porcelain in the Joseon era, and the county's experience of Japanese rule and the Korean War, with a children's area and an observation deck.

Tripto tips

• Time needed: allow 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours for all three halls.
• Opening hours: 10:00–18:00 (last tickets 17:00). Closed on Mondays (open if Monday is a public holiday), 1 January and on the mornings of Seollal and Chuseok.
• Admission: a combined ticket costs KRW 3,000, and you receive a KRW 3,000 Yanggu Love gift voucher in return, which you can spend in local restaurants and shops. Free for children aged 6 and under, over-65s and some other groups.
• Photography: allowed in the galleries, but no flash or tripods.
• Getting there: about 2 km from Yanggu Intercity Bus Terminal, around 5 minutes by taxi or 25 minutes on foot.
• Combine with: other cultural sites in the county, such as the museum of Yanggu-born painter Park Soo-keun and the National Centre Observatory, make for a full day.