700-Year-Old Goryeo Lotus Among Draws at Arboretum That Has Welcomed 5 Million Visitors

As the heat radiating off concrete and asphalt begins to ease, a vast green curtain emerges beyond the edge of the city.

It is a swath of green that has pushed its way into the gray skyline of a neatly gridded administrative capital — the widest breathing space this artificial city has to offer. The moment visitors step past the transparent glass walls, the steady hum of urban life falls away, replaced by the dense, living fragrance of an exotic forest.

The National Arboretum of Sejong, set at the heart of everyday life, stands as proof that city and nature can truly coexist.

Past the main gate of the National Arboretum of Sejong, a gently sloping plain opens up with nothing to obstruct the view. Unlike most arboretums in Korea, which are carved into steep hillsides, this one is a flatland urban arboretum — and the largest of its kind in the country. Spread across 65 hectares, equivalent to 90 soccer fields, it is home to 4,367 species and about 2.48 million individual plants.

Its reputation matches its national title. Since opening in October 2020, the arboretum surpassed 5 million cumulative visitors on June 13 — just five years and eight months after its debut, a figure that works out to roughly one in every 10 South Koreans having visited. It was named to the "Korea Tourism 100" list in both 2023 and 2025, cementing its status as a cultural and tourism hub for the central region, well beyond a simple botanical garden.

The most visited attraction is the four-seasons exhibition greenhouse, whose form is modeled on a three-petaled iris. Branching out from a central lobby, it is divided into three halls: a Mediterranean greenhouse, a tropical greenhouse and a special exhibition greenhouse. The space is so expansive that a thorough tour of the entire complex takes nearly four hours.

The Mediterranean greenhouse covers about 2,200 square meters and holds 227 species and 1,960 individual plants from Mediterranean climate zones across Europe, Asia and Africa. An elevator inside carries visitors up to an observation deck at the height of a ninth-floor apartment, offering a panoramic view of both the greenhouse interior and the outdoor grounds. Looking right from the deck, the site of the National Assembly's Sejong annex — scheduled to open in 2033 — stretches into the distance, while straight ahead the traditional hanok roofline of Solchanru rises above a sweep of green.

The Mediterranean greenhouse is hosting a special exhibition, "The Five-Color Garden Painted by Henri Matisse," through Dec. 31. The show weaves the artistic world of Matisse — widely regarded as the master of color in the 20th century — into a garden setting, giving physical form to his characteristically vivid palette and delivering a visual immersion that feels like stepping inside a canvas. Among the themed spaces, the "Pink Studio" is a popular photo spot that captures the vitality defining Matisse's work.

The adjacent tropical greenhouse spans 2,800 square meters and recreates the temperature and climate of the equatorial zone. It is home to 437 species and 6,724 plants, including Alstonia scholaris, once used as a source material for blackboards. From the second-floor walkway, the dense canopy of towering palms and ferns evokes the jungle of "Jurassic Park." Many of the plants are rarely seen in Korea — carnivorous species such as Nepenthes pitcher plants and sundews, which draw nutrients from insects, are among the residents greeting visitors.

Dinosaur models, including a Tyrannosaurus rex, are also on display in the area. A staff member explained with a laugh that the figures were left over from a past special exhibition and placed among the plants, but that the sounds and movements had prompted so many complaints from parents of startled toddlers that the audio has since been switched off and the models now serve purely as background scenery.

The third space, the special exhibition greenhouse, is a flexible venue whose main theme is replaced entirely twice a year, roughly every six months. Through Oct. 11, it presents "Garden Marble: Gardens of the World," a special exhibition that explores garden cultures and ecosystems from around the globe through the format of a board game. Visitors can wander as if moving across a game board, discovering famous garden styles from different countries — a recreation of Korea's traditional Soswaewon garden in Damyang alongside gardens from Japan, France, the Netherlands and Singapore, offering a miniature world tour in a single visit.

The Korean traditional garden, the centerpiece of the outdoor grounds beyond the greenhouses, is particularly popular with foreign visitors. At its heart, the palace garden was reconstructed to full scale based on depictions of Juhamnu Pavilion and Buyongjeong Pavilion in Changdeokgung Palace's rear garden as shown in Donggwoldo, a national treasure palace painting. Rather than using the original cultural heritage names directly, the arboretum gave the structures names reflecting Sejong's own identity — the pavilion was named Solchanru and the pond Dodamji.

The terraced flower beds lining the path up to Solchanru were designed according to the nine-rank principle from "Yanghwasolog," an early Joseon horticulture manual, with plants of progressively higher prestige placed on each ascending tier so visitors can experience a garden arranged by rank. Along the fence beside Gaonmun, the entrance gate to Solchanru, maple trees were planted in place of junipers to maximize the autumn foliage display.

The lotus planted in the Dodamji pond carries a remarkable history. "The 'Ara Red Lotus' in Dodamji grew from seeds of a lotus dating back about 700 years to the Goryeo period, excavated at the Seongsansanseong Fortress site in Haman, South Gyeongsang Province," an arboretum official said. "We received root stock that Haman-gun had germinated and propagated, so visitors can now see a lotus from the mid-to-late Goryeo era right in the middle of downtown Sejong."

Across the way, the rare and endemic plant greenhouse collects, conserves and displays species that are gradually disappearing as well as those found only in Korea. Visitors can observe a wide range of the country's vanishing native flora, including orchid-family plants such as Neofinetia falcata, Cymbidium kanran and Psilotum nudum.

The National Arboretum of Sejong is trying something new this autumn by linking up with a cultural and sporting event. For the first time, the arboretum's interior visitor paths have been included in the official course of the 2026 Hangul Run, co-hosted by Herald Media Group and Sejong Special Self-Governing City to mark the 100th anniversary of Hangul Day, which falls next month on Oct. 9.

Athletic activities have long been restricted inside the arboretum to protect its plants, but this year's Hangul Run will let participants run along its interior paths and take in the full splendor of an autumn garden. Registration for the Hangul Run is open through Sept. 20; details are available on the 2026 Hangul Run website.

"In the past, we were fairly conservative about dynamic events," said Kang Shin-gu, director of the National Arboretum of Sejong. "But we took note of the global trend of leading arboretums — such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — actively opening their spaces, and that is what led us to open the course. We hope this goes beyond a simple sporting event and gives participants a chance to reflect on plant ecosystems and feel the message of environmental stewardship firsthand."