Odaesan's Annals Museum revives King Jeongjo's army in light — free until 13 December

On the road up to Woljeongsa temple in Pyeongchang, Gangwon, the National Museum of the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty has opened its autumn theme exhibition. The subject is the military rites — in Korean, gunrye (군례) — that King Jeongjo staged at Hwaseong fortress in 1795. Two uigwe, the illustrated protocol books the Joseon court kept of its state occasions, carry the procession and the fortress; an immersive video produced by the Korea Heritage Agency puts the military review on a wall-sized screen. The Korea Heritage Service says the museum runs a theme show twice a year, in spring and autumn, and timed this one to the opening day of the Odaesan Culture Festival so that people coming for the foliage would find the documentary heritage too. It runs until 13 December and costs nothing.

What are the military rites, and why Hwaseong?

Joseon sorted the state's great ceremonies into five kinds, the Five Rites. The military rites were the ones that moved an army: formation drills, reviews of the troops, archery. Soldiers moving in order were themselves the message — the man who commands this army is the king. Hwaseong (화성) is the fortress King Jeongjo built at Suwon after moving his father Crown Prince Sado's tomb there. In 1795, for his mother Lady Hyegyeong's sixtieth birthday, Jeongjo travelled to Hwaseong on an eight-day, seven-night journey; while there he watched military drills from the Seojangdae command post and shot arrows at the Deukjungjeong pavilion. That procession is the "day" this exhibition sets out to revive.

How do the two protocol books differ?

The spine of the show is two uigwe. One records the procession itself; the other records the fortress that staged it. Seen side by side, they lock together: what was done, and where.

What does the immersive video "The Military Review" show?

A review that survives only as book illustrations has been turned into moving pictures by the Korea Heritage Agency. The source is the Korean-script Jeongni Uigwe and two of its paintings: the troop review at the east command post and the night exercise. According to the description the museum posted for the spring run, the video opens by day with the review and archery on the field below the east command post, then moves to night, when torches are lit along the Seojangdae command post and buried fireworks burst from the ground. The producers say the costumes, the movement of the formations and the military signals follow what the uigwe records.

The press release gives no running time or screening schedule. If you want to plan time in front of the screen, calling the museum (+82-33-330-7900, Korean) before you go is the only sure way to find out.

Is it new if you saw the spring show?

The museum's own list of special exhibitions carries a 2026 spring theme exhibition, "Hwaseong, the Day of the Military Rites: The King's Army Revived in Light" (14 April – 24 May), as a past show. The subtitle is the same, and the immersive video was already screening then. The spring description also mentions the Hwaseong Procession Screen. The autumn press release names only the two uigwe and the video, so what has changed since spring cannot be confirmed from official material. If you came in spring, assume the same line-up and treat it as a side trip on an Odaesan foliage day.

Opening hours, rules and how to get there

• Hours: 9:30 am – 5:30 pm from March to October, 9:30 am – 5:00 pm from November to February. Last entry is 30 minutes before closing, so from November you must be in by 4:30 pm.
• Closed: every Monday, 1 January, and the days of Seollal and Chuseok. The museum may close for maintenance at short notice.
• Admission and booking: free, nothing to book. Children aged 6 and under must be accompanied by an adult; pets are not admitted.
• Photography: personal photos are allowed, but flash, tripods and selfie sticks are banned in the galleries. No food or drink inside.
• KTX: Seoul Station to Jinbu (Odaesan) Station (진부 오대산역) on the Gangneung line, then a bus or taxi.
• Intercity bus: Dong Seoul Terminal (Gangbyeon Station, Line 2, Exit 4) to Jinbu Intercity Bus Terminal takes about 2 hours 14 minutes, every 30–40 minutes (first 6:40 am, last 8:20 pm); Seoul Nambu Terminal has three departures a day. From Jinbu terminal, buses 225, 226 and 227 bound for Woljeongsa and Sangwonsa take about 20 minutes — get off at Odaesan Meokgeori Village (오대산 먹거리마을). A taxi takes around 15 minutes.
• By car: 15 minutes from the Jinbu toll gate on the Yeongdong Expressway; allow about 3 hours from Seoul.

The opening-week events are over

"Autumn Love Sillok" (가을愛 실록), held on 9 and 10 October to mark the opening, was an outdoor reading lounge, a band performance and a free-drink promotion for people who posted a photo of the show; it has finished. So has the Odaesan Culture Festival around Woljeongsa (8–10 October). What remains is the exhibition itself and a children's family programme the press release says normally runs on Saturdays only. Its times and sign-up are not in the release, so check the museum's notice board or call before counting on it.

Getting there from Seoul, and what the day looks like

The simplest route is the KTX from Seoul Station to Jinbu (Odaesan) Station; the museum itself quotes a 15-minute taxi from the Jinbu area, and the Woljeongsa-bound buses 225, 226 and 227 are the budget option (the destination on the bus is in Korean, so match the number). The museum sits on the approach road to Woljeongsa, so the natural plan is museum first, then the temple's fir-tree path, then the foliage — all within Odaesan National Park. On the language question: the museum's website, labels and phone line are Korean. The spring listing of this same show gave English titles for each section, which suggests English headings on the panels, and the heart of the exhibition is a wordless visual reconstruction, so a non-reader still gets the point. Nothing has to be booked, paid for or registered, which makes this one of the easier national-museum stops for a visitor without a Korean phone number — the only timing to respect is the earlier 5 pm close from November.