Can I still see the lantern in Seoul?

Yes. No transfer date has been set, and conservation treatment, the final excavation report and site preparation at Godalsa all have to be completed first. It remains in the National Museum of Korea's outdoor stone garden in the meantime.

Does it cost anything to see?

No. The outdoor stone garden is free and open to anyone, with no ticket issued — as are the museum's permanent galleries. Only separately ticketed special exhibitions charge.

When is the stone garden open?

From 7:00am to 10:00pm every day, which is much longer than the galleries. That makes it a reliable option in the evening, when the indoor exhibition halls have closed at 5:30pm on most days of the week.

Where is Godalsa, and can I visit it?

It is a designated historic site near Yeoju in Gyeonggi-do, east of Seoul — the remains of a Goryeo temple rather than a standing building. It is open ground that can be visited, though the lantern is not there yet.

News·National Museum of Korea

The twin-lion stone lantern is going back to Yeoju — but not yet

Kang Shin-wookPublished 22 September 2026Updated 21 September 20264 sources checkedEditorial policy 이 글을 한국어로 읽기

Museum visitor information

The National Museum of Korea, the Korea Heritage Service and Yeoju City announced on 9 September that the Goryeo-era twin-lion stone lantern from the Godalsa temple site will be returned to the ruins it came from. No date has been set: conservation work, a final excavation report and site preparation all come first. For now it stands where it has for decades, in the museum's outdoor stone garden in Seoul — which is free to walk into.

In short

On 9 September 2026 the museum, the Korea Heritage Service and Yeoju City agreed that the lantern will return to the Godalsa temple site it came from.
No transfer date has been fixed. Conservation treatment, publication of the final excavation report and site preparation all have to happen first.
Until then it stays in the National Museum of Korea's outdoor stone garden in Seoul, which is free and open 7:00am to 10:00pm daily.
That garden is open long after the galleries close, so the lantern can be seen on an evening when the museum itself is shut.

The twin-lion stone lantern from the Godalsa temple site in Yeoju, standing in the National Museum of Korea's outdoor garden: two crouching lions carrying the light chamber and roof stone above them. — The Treasure 'Twin-lion Stone Lantern from the Godalsa Temple Site, Yeoju', from the front. It currently stands in the National Museum of Korea's outdoor stone garden. Photo: National Museum of Korea / e-museum · KOGL Type 1 · Original

Korea spent much of the twentieth century moving its stone monuments into museums, for reasons that ranged from protection to convenience to colonial appropriation. The twin-lion stone lantern from Godalsa, a Goryeo-era temple site at Yeoju, has stood in Seoul for decades. It has now been agreed that it will go back, and the announcement is worth knowing about for a simple practical reason: if you want to see it in Seoul, the window is open but finite.

What the object is

A stone lantern of this kind stood in front of a temple hall and held a light as an offering. This one is distinguished by the two lions that support its fire chamber, carved crouching and facing outward — an unusual and confident piece of Goryeo stonework, and the reason it carries Treasure designation. Godalsa itself is now a ruin, a designated historic site of foundations and scattered stonework in the hills near Yeoju.

The twin-lion stone lantern from behind, showing the lions, the cloud-patterned base stone, the lotus-patterned base stone, the light chamber and the roof stone stacked in order. — The lantern from behind. Lions, cloud-patterned base, lotus-patterned base, light chamber and roof stone, stacked in that order. Photo: National Museum of Korea / e-museum (accession no. Sinsu 18239) · KOGL Type 1 · Original

A black-and-white glass plate close-up from the side of one lion, forepaws extended and body crouched low. — A close view of a crouching lion. The posture is clearly different from other twin-lion lanterns, where the lions raise a forepaw to hold up the base. Photo: National Museum of Korea / e-museum (Government-General Museum glass plate negative 11482) · KOGL Type 1 · Original

The front of the twin-lion stone lantern as released by the Korea Heritage Service, cut out from its background. — The front view of the lantern used in the Korea Heritage Service's press release. Photo: Korea Heritage Service · Original

A colonial-period black-and-white glass plate photograph of the lower part of the lantern still at the Godalsa site: only the base stone sits on the two crouching lions, with no light chamber or roof stone. — The lantern during its years at the Godalsa site (plate no. 398-06). Without the light chamber and roof stone, only the base sat on the lions. Photo: National Museum of Korea / e-museum (Government-General Museum glass plate negative 22114) · KOGL Type 1 · Original

Why it is not moving yet

What has to happen before the transfer

Conservation treatment: A stone monument that has stood outdoors for decades is assessed and stabilised before it is moved
The final excavation report: The site's comprehensive report has to be published, which fixes what is known about where the lantern stood
Site preparation: Godalsa needs the setting, protection and interpretation in place to receive it
Then a date: Only after those three is a transfer date set. None has been announced

An aerial photograph of the Godalsa temple site in Yeoju, with the lantern's intended new position marked by a red rectangle. — An aerial view of the Godalsa site with the planned position for the lantern marked in red, from the Korea Heritage Service's press release. Photo: Korea Heritage Service · Original

Seeing it now, in the free part of the museum

The stone garden sits outside the main building, among a reflecting pool and a path of pagodas and lanterns brought in from sites around the country. It costs nothing, needs no ticket, and is open from 7:00am to 10:00pm — far longer than the galleries, which close at 5:30pm on most days. If you arrive in Yongsan in the evening and find the museum shut, the stone garden is still open, and this is one of the things in it.

The wider argument this is part of

Returning an object to its original site changes what a visitor can understand from it. In a museum garden the lantern is an example of Goryeo carving; standing among the foundations at Godalsa, it is part of a plan you can walk around. The trade-off is exposure and access — Yeoju is a good deal further from Seoul than Ichon Station is. That tension is why these decisions take years rather than months.

A black-and-white glass plate photograph of the Godalsa stupa as it once stood, with its octagonal roof stone and finial. — The National Treasure 'Stupa at the Godalsa Temple Site, Yeoju' as it once stood (plate no. 398-03), the best-known monument on the site. Photo: National Museum of Korea / e-museum (glass plate negative 22111) · KOGL Type 1 · Original

A black-and-white glass plate photograph of the stupa of the Great Monk Wonjong, a child standing beside it for scale. — The Treasure 'Stupa of the Great Monk Wonjong, Godalsa Temple Site' (plate no. 405-13). The child beside it gives the scale. Photo: National Museum of Korea / e-museum (glass plate negative 22189) · KOGL Type 1 · Original

A black-and-white glass plate photograph of the tortoise-shaped base and the dragon-carved capstone of the Wonjong stele. — The tortoise base and dragon capstone of the Treasure 'Stele of the Great Monk Wonjong' (plate no. 1129-10). Photo: National Museum of Korea / e-museum (glass plate negative 30324) · KOGL Type 1 · Original

A black-and-white glass plate photograph of a square stone pedestal carved with a lotus design. — The Treasure 'Stone Pedestal at the Godalsa Temple Site' as it once stood (plate no. 1129-13). Photo: National Museum of Korea / e-museum (glass plate negative 30327) · KOGL Type 1 · Original

A black-and-white glass plate photograph of several roof tiles excavated at the Godalsa site, including lotus-design end tiles, laid out together. — Roof tiles excavated at the Godalsa site, among them lotus-design end tiles (plate no. 731-08). Photo: National Museum of Korea / e-museum (glass plate negative 25487) · KOGL Type 1 · Original

A fragment of roof tile with the characters for Godalsa incised into it. — A tile fragment inscribed 'Godalsa' (accession no. Sinsu 23168). Photo: National Museum of Korea / e-museum · KOGL Type 1 · Original

Frequently asked questions

Q. Can I still see the lantern in Seoul?: Yes. No transfer date has been set, and conservation treatment, the final excavation report and site preparation at Godalsa all have to be completed first. It remains in the National Museum of Korea's outdoor stone garden in the meantime.
Q. Does it cost anything to see?: No. The outdoor stone garden is free and open to anyone, with no ticket issued — as are the museum's permanent galleries. Only separately ticketed special exhibitions charge.
Q. When is the stone garden open?: From 7:00am to 10:00pm every day, which is much longer than the galleries. That makes it a reliable option in the evening, when the indoor exhibition halls have closed at 5:30pm on most days of the week.
Q. Where is Godalsa, and can I visit it?: It is a designated historic site near Yeoju in Gyeonggi-do, east of Seoul — the remains of a Goryeo temple rather than a standing building. It is open ground that can be visited, though the lantern is not there yet.

Sources

Official notice (Korean)

Written in our own words from the sources above, never copied from them, and every date and price checked against at least two pages. The originals are in Korean. Spotted a mistake? Ask for a correction.