5 Abstract: The aim of this thesis is firstly to deal with the emergence and development of museums on the Korean peninsula and since 1948 only in the Republic of Korea. Secondly it aims to concentrate on their educational activities. The very first modern museum in Korea called the Imperial Museum was established at the beginning of the 20th century. A year after the museum opened its door to the public, Korea was annexed by Japan. That had a great impact on the development of the first museums in Korea. After the liberation from Japanese rule in 1945 the museums were handed over to Koreans. Museum activity had only just begun when the Korean War broke out. The focus of the following part is the National Museum of Korea (NMK), the most important museum in South Korea. For most of its history the museum moved from one place to another. In 2005 it finally found its place in a newly built modern building in Soul's district called Jongsan. By taking NMK as an example the thesis explores the museum educational activities. It offers a closer look at programs for foreigners and the growing number of immigrants and senior citizens, popular lecture series, wide range of guided tours etc. Finally, some exhibition projects are introduced. Keywords: Korean museums, National Museum of Korea, museum education,...

Ce travail de recherche porte sur la numérisation du patrimoine culturel dans les musées nationaux coréens en nous interrogeant sur les différents types de dispositifs qui s’adaptent à la tendance actuelle du tout digital, tout en redéfinissant la médiation numérique. Afin d’aborder la particularité de la numérisation dans un contexte coréen, nous mettons en évidence d’une part un paysage global de l’évolution des musées nationaux ainsi qu’une analyse de la mise en application de la technologique numérique dans les institutions culturelles, et d’autre part les actions de médiation culturelle réalisées selon deux principes : démocratisation de la culture au sens global et démocratie culturelle dans le cadre du bien-être culturel et de médiation numérique au sein des musées nationaux coréens. Au-delà de ces recherches préalables indispensables, nous analysons des dispositifs numériques proposés par le musée national de Corée, ainsi que le comportement du public coréen, largement composé de ‘ressourceurs’ depuis des années, à l’égard des institutions muséales. Nous examinons la nouvelle tendance actuelle de la numérisation dans la société coréenne : l’établissement du nouveau concept de musée numérique constitué principalement d’une base de données sans objets réels, ainsi que la diffusion de l’exposition numérique utilisant essentiellement des supports digitaux pour mettre en avant et reproduire des œuvres. Dans cette perspective, nous évaluons un état des lieux actuel de la numérisation des institutions muséales coréennes selon les fonctions du musée. Cette thèse apporte des éléments de réflexion sur la numérisation pour développer la médiation numérique muséale tout comme elle se sert d’un modèle permettant aux institutions muséales d’évaluer l’état et l’utilité de la numérisation en fonction de leur situation propre. / This research work focuses on the digitization of cultural heritage in Korean National Museums by asking different types of devices that adapt to the current trend in the digital age by redefining a digital interpretation. In order to approach the particularity of digitization in a Korean context, we emphasis on a global view of the evolution of national museums as we analyze the application of digital technology in cultural institutions on one hand, the cultural interpretation’s actions carried out by two principles on the other hand: democratization of Culture in a large sense and Cultural Democracy in the context of cultural well-being and digital interpretation in Korean National Museums. In addition to these indispensable preliminary researches, we analyze digital devices provided by the National Museum of Korea, as well as the behavior of the Korean audience towards museum institutions, which has been 'rechargers' for years for most of it. Also, we study the new trend of digitization in Korean society: the establishment of the new concept of a Digital Museum consisting mainly of a database without any actual object, as well as the diffusion of the digital exhibition using mostly a digital media for exhibiting and reproducing a work of art. In this perspective, we evaluate the present state of the digitization of Korean Museums according to museum functions. This thesis provides the elements of reflection on digitization in order to develop museum’s digital interpretation as it uses a model that allows museum institutions to assess their state and utility of digitization according to their own situation.