SEOUL - On a crisp morning in Seoul, even before the exhibition halls officially open, a group of visitors stands in line outside the National Museum of Korea, a cultural institution that has recently changed from a traditional repository of ancient relics into a lively space for daily activities.

Attracting a record 6.5 million visitors last year, marking more than a four-fold increase from its relocation year in 2005, the museum now ranks among the world's most-visited art and history institutions, alongside the Louvre, the Vatican Museums and the British Museum.