In Korea, museums have been gradually grown in quantity since the
establishment of the Jesil Bangmulgwan (royal museum) in 1909, and the
International Council of Museums (ICOM) Seoul serves as a momentum for
the their remarkable growth. Centering on the Korean Museum Association,
they cooperate with each other to play the role of social educational
organizations and establish an organic management system. Despite such
efforts, as science and technology advance and lifestyles and social
structures change, the paradigm of museums also changes.
For university museums, which have more focused on academic research
than public and private museums, specialization that creates new values is
required to find ways to survive amid such a change. This study aims to
investigate how to vitalize university museums that are being depressed
under social changes, taking Hye-Jung Museum as a case in point. It is
expected that this study will contribute, to some extent, to the establishment
of new roles and models for museums.