At Insa Historic Sites Museum, heritage is preserved through destruction

Some of the world's oldest extant movable metal type is on display at a new museum in central Seoul, and entry is free of charge for anyone who wants to see it. However, Insa Historic Sites Museum comes across as surprisingly modest in how it displays these remarkable pieces of typographic history. The museum's collection includes 441 examples of movable metal type, selected from approximately 1,700 replicas of the originals found at the site. This includes "gabinja," originally cast in 1434, predating Johannes Gutenberg's own movable metal type by almost two decades. There are also replicas of "eulyuja" type, cast originally in 1465, representing the oldest known surviving metal types bearing examples of Hangeul, or Korean characters. Hundreds of the little metal pieces were unearthed during a 2020-21 archaeological survey and subsequent excavation. Such surveys are a mandatory part of the redevelopment process, which wiped out the southeastern corner of downtown Seoul's historic Insa-dong neighborhood to make way for G1 Seoul, a new office building that houses the museum in its basem