Kimchi Field Museum

Museum Kimchikan
Entrance to the museum
Korean name
Hangul	김치박물관
Hanja	김치博物館
Revised Romanization	Gimchi Bangmulgwan
McCune–Reischauer	Kimch'i Pangmulgwan

Museum Kimchikan, formerly Kimchi Museum, is a museum dedicated to kimchi; one of the staples of Korean cuisine. Exhibits focus on the food's history, its many historical and regional varieties, and its importance to Korean culture and cuisine. The museum collects data and statistics on kimchi and regularly offers activities for visitors, such as demonstrations of the kimchi-making process, kimchi tastings, and cooking classes. The Kimchi Field Museum was Korea's first food museum. In 2015, it was selected by CNN as one of the world's best food museums.

The Kimchi Field Museum was established in 1986, and is located in the Jongno District of Seoul, South Korea.

The museum was reopened at Insa-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, Korea on April 21, 2015.

The Kimchi Field Museum was originally established in 1986 in Pil-dong, Jung-gu. From 1987, the museum was managed by Pulmuone Inc., one of the largest food production companies in Korea. In 1988, the museum was moved to the COEX (Convention and Exhibition Center) in connection with the Summer Olympic Games held in Seoul, South Korea.

In 2000, the museum was renovated so as to expand and improve its facilities for visitors in anticipation of the third Asia–Europe Meeting in Seoul, designed to deepen political, economic, and cultural relationships between its 41 member countries.

The first part of the museum has three sections covering the long history of kimchi, including a detailed timeline for visitors.

The second branch of the Kimchi Field Museum consists of displays on the process of kimchi making, as well as short documentaries which play at regular intervals. Here, visitors can view models of 80 different kinds of kimchi and compare recipes (with a picture and description for each). In addition, there is information about what kinds of spices people have used before they adopted red peppers from Japan and Korea. Another section illustrates the regional varieties of kimchi by geographic district.