Seoul is a great city to visit for many reasons, one of them being that it has several impressive museums like the National Museum of Korea history museum and the War Memorial of Korea.
The War Memorial of Korea is the most impressive military museum I’ve ever visited. It has an actual air armada and tank force outside, while inside, it has military exhibits ranging from ancient times to the Korean War.
The museum is housed in a huge, formidable gray building that used to be the country’s military headquarters. In front of the museum are a few large sculptures commemorating the Korean War such as the Statue of Brothers which shows two brothers who are soldiers for South and North Korea embracing.
At the side is a fantastic collection of dozens of real warplanes, helicopters, tanks, artillery, and even a full-scale replica of a navy frigate. Among the highlights are a B-52 Stratofortress, a massive American bomber that first flew in 1952 and is still in service now; a F-4 Phantom, an American fighter that was one of the most lethal military jets in the 1960s and 1970s; and a replica of the frigate PKM-57 that was sunk by North Korea in a naval battle in 2002. All these jets, helicopters and tanks are free to view and could be considered an entire attraction itself.
The museum itself features lots of historic weapons, armour and cannons and even a full-scale replica of a 16th-century turtle ship used to destroy invading Japanese navies. Japanese invaders figure prominently in the historical records and paintings of battles on display, though the Japanese colonial period, when Japan annexed Korea in 1910 and ruled it as a colony until 945, which was a deeply traumatic period for Koreans, is hardly featured.
Not surprisingly, the museum has a full section devoted to the Korean War, when North Korea invaded the South in 1950 and was beaten back after three years with the help of the US and 15 countries who contributed soldiers through a UN force. As the two Koreas are still in a state of war, having never declared an end to hostilities, the Korean War still has a lot of relevance.
The Korean War section features a memorial to fallen UN soldiers and the flags, military weaponry and uniforms of the 16 nations that sent troops to help South Korea fight off North Korea and China. There are also rifles and machine guns used during the Korean War on display, which means you can see everything from medieval bow and arrows and swords to 20th century guns in this museum.
How to get there: Take either line 4 or 6 and get off at Samgakji station, which is west of the museum. Exit 12 is the closest to the museum.
Note: The museum is closed on Mondays, and if Monday is a holiday, it is closed on that Tuesday.
Monument to the Korean War
Statue of Brothers
Battle of Ansiseong Fortress, when an invading Chinese Tang army in AD 645 attacked a Korean fortress and were repelled. 
Turtle ship used in the 16th century to repel Japanese invading navies
Full-scale replica of a frigate that was sunk by North Korea in a battle in 2002
The mighty B-52 heavy bomber
UH-1 Cobra helicopter gunship
F-4 Phantom fighter jet
This display and the following two below show uniforms and weapons of powerful nations (Japan, France, Spain) which established relations with Korea. The signs show important dates of milestones in the country’s relationship with Korea in the 19th century.
Memorial of soldiers of allied nations who died in the Korean War
Photos from the Korean War
