The Gyeongju National Museum announced on the 24th that a total of 285,401 visitors attended the special exhibition "Silla Gold Crowns: Power and Prestige," which concluded on the 22nd. The exhibition was open to the public from November 2, 2025 to February 22, 2026, spanning 110 days with an estimated daily average of 2,594 visitors.
The special exhibition drew attention as the first in history to bring together all six Silla gold crowns scattered across the nation in one place. Due to limited space in the special exhibition hall, the museum restricted admission to 150 visitors per session and 2,550 per day. Nevertheless, all sessions sold out early, with "open run" phenomena observed as visitors lined up before the museum opened.
Buoyed by the exhibition's success, the Gyeongju National Museum recorded cumulative visitors of 401,683 as of February 22 this year. This represents approximately a 2.4-fold increase compared to 169,464 visitors during the same period last year.
The Gyeongju National Museum previously announced plans with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to hold related exhibitions every 10 years, consolidating domestic and international research findings to establish this as a signature exhibition for the museum and Gyeongju. The next exhibition scheduled for 2035 will expand the scope of gold crowns both spatially and conceptually, showcasing not only the six Silla gold crowns but also various gold crowns from Korea and abroad. The exhibition will also extend beyond headband-style crowns (daegwan) to include cap-style crowns (mogwan).
Yoon Sang-deok, Director of Gyeongju National Museum, said, "We will continue our efforts to actively hold special exhibitions embodying the essence of Silla culture both domestically and internationally to promote the excellence of Silla culture."