National Gugak Center

The National Gugak Center is South Korea's representative national arts institution dedicated to preserving Korean traditional performing arts. It pursues gugak (traditional Korean music) shared with the people and gugak in the global stage through various performances, academic research, gugak education, and international exchanges.

The National Gugak Center traces its origins to the court music institutions that have been passed down since the Silla period. After the liberation on August 15, the court music institution was dissolved and continued as the Guwanggung Aakbu, and from 1951 it became the National Gugak Center. The organization of the National Gugak Center was announced in 1950, but due to the war, it opened in Busan in 1951. After the recovery, it moved through buildings in Unni-dong and Jangchung-dong, and in 1987 relocated to its current building in Seocho-dong.