War & Women's Human Rights Museum — Attraction in Seoul

I've been to a lot of war, genocide, and human rights memorials all over the world, including Rwanda, US, and Switzerland, and this is by far one of the best I've ever seen. It's incredibly immersive and clearly designed with the victims and their stories at the forefront. I especially loved the art pieces drawn by the victims themselves and the stairway through the women's words. But the part that really touched me was the special exhibit in the basement dedicated to victims of war crimes by South Korean soldiers in the Vietnam War. The whole exhibit demanded accountability from Japan, and it was so touching to see that South Korea was also taking accountability for its own crimes. As someone who studies conflict and transitional justice, I know how deeply important memorialization and accountability is to the post-conflict reconcilliation processes, and this exhibit accomplishes both goals so beautifully. If you're in korea and only have time to visit one museum, let it be this one, I 100/10...

It is about a very serious subject, sexual abuse during war times, but it just focus too much on japanese 'use" of comfort women...they repeat it almost maniacally " the comfort women.." "Japan, Japan, Japanese..." The voice of the audio guide speaks in a very soft and sad tone... But with a very poor context and critical overview... As a foreigner I left without knowing more about Korean history and why only the Japanese invasion and abuses matters for this museum, and not a broader connection to the problematics and violence of patriarchal institutionalized structures. I don't think it is worth to visit it at this moment. But I do hope this museum gets better, as the subject deserves attention and development. But for now it just lacks sensibility, it felt like another abuse again, to use such an important subject to make such a poor space that just repeats "japanese were/are bad" like an authoritative...

A wonderful museum experience. The museum is in a quiet location and seems unassuming from the outside, but the amount of information, media and exhibiting objects they displayed was very impressive. I learned so much not only about history but also human suffering, resilience and hope.

I went when the Kim Bok Dong special exhibition was on, and it was such a special experience that made me tear up several times. The museum did an excellent job depicting her as a wonderful, exceptionally strong woman who despite her own suffering reached out to victims in need.

I also really appreciated the English audio guide devices the museum kindly provided, as I did not speak Korean at all but was still able to learn so much from the museum. This is an unforgettable experience, would definitely recommend...