▲ Panoramic view of the Boryeong Coal Museum

“Why can＇t I catch a rat in the mine?”
“Rats can see danger faster than people. If such rats are suddenly out of sight, miners evacuate, thinking they will be danger. In the mine, rats are animals to be protected.” This is the No. 1 coal museum in Boryeong City, Chungcheongnam-do. The conversation between the guide and primary school children is quite serious. The children take a look here and there in the museum, carefully listening to the guide.

▲ Coal mine

The coal mine, which was opened back in 1995 in Seongju-myeon, Boryeong City, Chungcheongnam-do, is where you can understand at a glance the history of the industry of coal, which warmed the living rooms of all people and built the Korean economy when Korea was a poor country. In the indoor and outdoor exhibition halls spanning about 1,700㎡, you can see the entire process of mining, moving, and using coal along with various kinds of equipment.
The museum is helping visitors understand the history by assigning guides who were former miners beginning the summer of 2010. The guides whose career as miners spans more than 30 years combine the explanation about the museum with their own experiences in the mine in a very convincing manner. The visitors listen with interest when the guide describes how he endured his desperate situation by eating the bark of a tree and drinking his own urine when the pit caved in, and how he narrowly escaped before the explosives blew up when the pit was overflowing with rainwater during the rainy season.
One of the highlights of going to the museum is the experience of taking the elevator down to 400m underground. You can feel as if you were a miner when you go underground in an elevator. Moreover, there is a tunnel that supplies cool air blowing from the closed mine for you to enjoy cool air bathing. At the DYI corner, you can make coal briquettes -- which were staple for Koreans until the 1980s -- by yourself.
The visiting hours in wintertime are 9 am to 5 pm from November to February. Admission KRW 1,000 for adults, KRW 800 for a group of more than 20 persons.