National Museum of Korea hosts large-scale cultural cosplay festival

The National Museum of Korea held the finals of the ‘2026 National Museum of Korea Cosplay Festival’ on the 19th in Yongsan-gu, Seoul. The event, which was expanded to a national scale for the first time this year, saw participation from 275 teams and 643 individuals, marking its largest scale to date.

Jeon Eun-seul won the grand prize, receiving the Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Award, for her performance recreating the ‘White Porcelain Carp-shaped Water Dropper’—a piece donated by the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee. Her performance used golden costumes and floor movements to depict the vitality of a leaping carp.

Other notable participants included webtoon artists and models, with performances ranging from the ‘Pensive Bodhisattva’ to the ‘Imperial Seal of the Korean Empire.’ Museum Director Yoo Hong-jun noted that the festival helps bring museum artifacts to life for the public, contributing to the museum's high global visitor rankings.