Mokpo Natural History Museum

In Mokpo's Gatbawi Culture Town, the Mokpo Natural History Museum is a city-run museum that covers everything from dinosaur fossils to insects, sea life and local history on a single ticket. Its most precious exhibit is a carnivorous dinosaur egg nest fossil, found in 2009 near the construction site of the Aphae Bridge between Mokpo and Aphaedo Island in Sinan, and the first nest of meat-eating dinosaur eggs confirmed in Korea. The galleries were renovated and reopened in 2021, which makes it a good stop with children.

From local culture hall to natural history museum

The museum's roots go back to the Mokpo Local Culture Hall, opened in 1983. A new building centred on the natural history collection went up from 2001, and the museum opened in September 2004. The Literature and History Hall, which carries on the collection of the old local hall, opened at the same time.

What to see

• The dinosaur egg nest fossil: the original specimen, designated a Natural Monument in 2012. The eggs, laid in the Cretaceous, survive together in their nest. It has had its own permanent gallery since 2011.
• Dinosaur skeletons: the large skeletons in the central hall are the museum's signature sight. You can also see fossils of Prenoceratops and Conchoraptor, both rare specimens, and fossils of marine reptiles.
• The life galleries: minerals and meteorites, insect and butterfly collections, mounted birds and mammals and marine dioramas, about 20,000 well-preserved specimens in all.
• Literature and History Hall: rooms dedicated to the Heo family, who painted for four generations at Unrimsanbang in Jindo, and a gallery of viewing stones.

The same ticket also covers the Mokpo Ceramic Living Museum next door, which follows South Jeolla's pottery industry from onggi jars to advanced ceramics.

With children

• 4D cinema: 12- to 17-minute films on the hour, up to 40 people per show. Tickets go on sale 10 minutes before each screening.
• Mokpo Children's Ocean Science Museum: run within the same museum complex, it opened in February 2013 as Korea's first ocean science museum for children. Check its hours and prices separately.
• Tablets and docent tours: if you want commentary, you can book a tablet guide or a docent tour in advance.

After your visit, the museum website's online photo gallery and VR exhibition let you look up any specimens you missed.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday 09:00–18:00 (last entry 17:00), one hour longer from June to August. Closed on Mondays and 1 January; if Monday is a public holiday, it closes the next day instead.
• Tickets: adults KRW 3,000, teenagers and soldiers KRW 2,000, primary pupils KRW 1,000, kindergarten children KRW 500. Free for over-65s. The 4D cinema costs KRW 2,000 per person, with screenings on the hour.
• Time needed: about 1 hour for the natural history galleries, 2 hours with the history hall and the ceramics museum.
• Getting there: from in front of Mokpo Bus Terminal take a city bus such as Circular 88 to the Mokpo Natural History Museum stop, then walk about 110 m. A taxi from the terminal takes around eight minutes.
• Combine with: the seaside rock formation Gatbawi is a few minutes' walk away. After the museum, follow the boardwalk along the water towards sunset.
• Discounts: residents of Mokpo and Sinan pay half price on showing ID.