Rising global interest in traditional Korean culture has pushed sales of the National Museum's cultural merchandise brand MU:DS to a record high.
The National Museum Cultural Foundation reported Oct. 31 that MU:DS sales from January through October reached about 30.64 billion won ($22.1 million), surpassing last year's 21.284 billion won and setting a new record. The foundation had expected to reach 30 billion won by year-end, but the milestone was achieved two months early.
MU:DS sales steadily increased from 6.1 billion won in 2016 before dipping to 3.7 billion won in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2022, the brand has grown rapidly, with sales rising to 11.6 billion won in 2022, 14.9 billion won in 2023, and 21.2 billion won in 2024.
This year, monthly sales more than doubled starting in July following the release of the Netflix series K-Pop Demon Hunters. Revenue rose from about 2.1 billion won in June to 4.957 billion won in July and 5.276 billion won in August. A museum official said the surge reflected growing interest in traditional Korean elements featured in the series and in performances by the Korean team Beomjeop on Mnet's World of Street Woman Fighter, including the Jakho-do painting and traditional hats called gat.
Min Kim [email protected]