I am not an art historian, and I do not write here with any institutional authority.

What I have instead is time in rooms. I have been visiting museums and galleries in Korea regularly since the early 2010s — national museums, corporate museums, commercial galleries, auction previews — and writing about them in Korean for most of that period, across some nine hundred posts. This site is where that habit continues in English.

By profession I work in communications in the Korean entertainment industry. I mention this for two reasons. First, honesty: I have spent years working inside the machinery of press releases, media narratives, and institutional messaging, and that experience shapes how I read what museums say about themselves. Second, as a boundary: nothing here draws on privileged information, and when a subject comes anywhere near my professional life, I either disclose the proximity or do not write the piece.

The rule of this site is direct observation. I write about what I have stood in front of, and the judgment in each essay is mine — explained rather than asserted, and open to being wrong. Basic information is easy to find elsewhere. What I try to add is what only becomes apparent by being there: how something is installed, encountered, and understood in the room. Practical information appears where it is useful, and I try to keep it accurate; the reason to read, if there is one, is the seeing.

I write under J. H. Ko. If you want to respond, the comments are open; if you prefer to write directly, hello@onseeingkorea.com will reach me.