Korea did not have a national modern library until the
Korean Empire period. The first modern library on the peninsula was the Daehan Library, which was established in 1906 by , Lee Beom-gu and
Yun Chi-ho. However, it was not publicly accessible. Its 100,000 books were eventually confiscated by the government in 1911. The first library that allowed free public access (although it was still privately owned) was called Daedong Seogwan. It also printed its own books. However, the
Japanese colonial government eventually limited access to printed materials, including newspapers, magazines, and books. It was then restricted to printing approved media and propaganda. After the 1919
March 1st Movement protests against colonial rule, the Japanese government-general loosened its restrictions on Korea. As part of this, they constructed the
Government-General of Chōsen Library in
Sogong-dong,
Jung District,
Keijō (present-day Seoul) in 1923. In October 1945, weeks after the
liberation of Korea, the National Library of Korea inherited the Government-General of Chōsen Library. Park Bong-seok created it by gathering materials from a number of libraries in the area. He also contributed to the development of a national library system in the South. In 1946, Park created a national library school to train librarians. He also continued consolidating materials from other Korean libraries. In 1948, a nationwide movement was formed called "One Country, One Library." Its goal was to establish more libraries and preserve materials in the various libraries in the country. They created a program to promote literacy in the Korean script
Hangul, which had been variously discouraged or prohibited during the colonial period in favor of the
Japanese script. Around this time, only 20% of Koreans could still read Korean. The library joined the
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions in 1955. Since then, the library has conducted various fundraising and educational events. In 1974, it relocated to
Namsan-dong, and in 1988 it again relocated to its the present location at
Banpo-dong, Seocho District. In 1991, it was transferred from the
Ministry of Education to the
Ministry of Culture in 1991. == Description ==