Korean Cultural Center in Malaysia
Think of the last time you mentioned wanting to eat Korean food or listened to a K-pop album. If the answer is “recently”, you’re in the global camp of people exposed to Korean culture.
If there’s one place you should be to learn even more about Korean culture, traditions, and art in Malaysia, it’s the newly opened Korean Cultural Center in Kuala Lumpur. Located in the heart of the city, the centre hosts free exhibitions and performances, with a library and authentically Korean spaces.
What is the Korean Cultural Center?
The Korean Cultural Center is a newly opened space in KL that lets you experience Korean culture through year-round free-entry exhibitions, cultural programmes, classes, and performances, no plane ticket required. It occupies two floors in a modern building across from the Petronas Twin Towers, with basement parking in the building available.
The centre is Korea’s 36th cultural centre worldwide, and its fifth in Southeast Asia. It’s meant to bring Korean culture to the world, with Malaysia’s first dedicated cultural centre for Korea celebrating the cultural exchange and cooperation established between Malaysia and South Korea in 2020.
What to do at the Korean Cultural Centre?
Free exhibitions
An inaugural exhibition celebrating Korea’s hanbok dress is currently on show at the cultural centre’s exhibition space, from the cultural centre’s opening until 8th January 2027. Called Hanbok, Reborn as Art, the exhibition showcases a range of artworks by Korean artists that explore the elements that go into a hanbok, including its patterns, colours, and materials.
The exhibition pieces are from Korea’s Savina Museum of Contemporary Art, with 19 Korean artists contributing artworks reimagining the hanbok as art pieces.
Visitors can also try on hanbok and other cultural ensembles at a wardrobe corner at the exhibition. There are royal attire and headpieces that K-drama fans might recognise from Joseon dramas.
Take the time to go through the closet, as each piece has a label that details its name and the occasion to wear it. A friendly staff will also be on hand to help you properly put on each piece.
In the lobby, there’s another exhibition by MU:DS, the merch brand of the National Museum of Korea. The permanent exhibition, KOREA, COLLECTED, comprises a massive wall spanning two floors that’s meant to recreate a chaekgado, a kind of Korean painting that depicts shelves filled with treasured objects.
The shelves here display MU:DS products inspired by Korean cultural heritage.
Take a closer look and see products made in collaboration with K-pop group BLACKPINK, and other iconic Korean pieces like the moon jar and Pensive Bodhisattva Miniature.
Library & sitting area
Beyond the lobby on the first floor, which also serves as a 100-seat performance hall, there’s a library and a sarangbang, or traditional Korean room for receiving guests, on the second floor.
The library is a cosy corner towards the back of the building, with seats for you to plop down with a book that you can pluck from the shelf. Find Korean titles in English, Korean, and also Malay, which are all free to borrow and read in the library.
The sarangbang is essentially another space for visitors to rest and also immerse themselves in a quintessentially Korean room. Aristocratic chairs and traditional Korean curtains that look like stained glass decorate this area. More MU:DS products are displayed here on a shelf, including traditional headpieces and fans.
Learn more about Korean culture at the Korean Cultural Center in KL
Anyone with an appreciation for Korean culture will want to pencil in a visit to the newly established Korean Cultural Center in KL. Visitors can go beyond learning about Korea through its food and music with exhibitions and cultural programmes that further explore its culture and traditions.
Cover image adapted from: TheSmartLocal Malaysia
Photography by Janet.