Government-Led Dooly Museum Opens In Seoul Providing Education And Amusement To Young And Old Visitors

The three-storey Dooly Museum, based on cartoonist Kim Soo Jeong's "Dooly The Little Dinosaur," opened in northern Seoul in July through the artist's collaboration with Dobong district office, reported Dong-A Ilbo on Sept. 24.

The 4,151-square-meter structure houses museum spaces, library areas with over 5,000 children's books and a playground for kids. It also has a comic book library, cartoon character exhibit hall and classrooms for educational programs.

The Dobong district office has spent 20 billion won since 2007 when they first started the establishment and today, approximately 600 visitors per day during vacations and 350 daily during semester visit the museum at an average since it first started its operations. With its success, the district is considering turning the surrounding area into a "Dooly Theme Park."

"The Dobong district office plans to draw paintings of Dooly characters in the Ssangmun subway line No. 4 station and on the walls along the Uicheon Stream," said Lee Dong Jin, head of the district office. "With the museum, the nearby area will be a Dooly Theme Park."

According to Korea Times on Thursday, the museum became a popular destination for families that the establishment had to limit the number of people coming in for the first few months since opening.

The Dooly Museum not only serves as an amusement park for the cartoon's fans, but also became a platform to test the success of government-led theme park schemes.

"As the first government-led theme park, our biggest goal is to become a more resident-friendly place so that the visitors can use our facilities as much as they want," said Bae Soo Yong, assistant manager at the museum's marketing department. "Though many say the theme park business is emerging as a blue ocean, there are no proper theme parks in Korea. Strictly speaking, we cannot call Lotte World or Everland theme parks. They are amusement parks as they only have rides and attractions without a certain theme."

Visitors can visit the museum for 7,000 won for children and 5,000 won for adults, while Dobong residents get a 1,000 won discount.

For more details on the Dooly Museum, visit their web page at www.doolymuseum.or.kr.