SEOUL -- It has long been known, though usually not mentioned in public discourse in Japan, that Korea has played a vital role in the transmission of Chinese culture to the country, starting with the introduction of Buddhism in 538. As of Oct. 28, the 60th anniversary of Korea's National Independence Day, South Korea now has a new museum, the National Museum of Korea, that explores the country's wider cultural influences.

Not only does the museum -- which took eight years to build -- celebrate Korea's artistic heritage, but in an attempt to document the full sweep of Silk Road culture, it also places its art and artifacts squarely in the context of greater Asian civilization. To that end, and perhaps surprisingly for a national museum, the collection includes artifacts from China and Japan, as well as places as distant as Central Asia and Indonesia.

Seunghe Sun, the curator in the Department of Special Exhibitions, told The Japan Times recently that one of the aims of the museum is to show the bridge that exists between East Asian cultures. "The continuum of experiences in these exhibition spaces is designed to offer visitors a glimpse of the similarities in the art traditions of Korea and Japan throughout our long history," she said.