O’sulloc Tea Museum & Seogwang Tea Fields

Character

The tea fields came before the museum. O’sulloc’s Jeju cultivation began in 1979, and the Seogwang landscape later became the setting for Korea’s first tea museum, opened in 2001

The rows outside are part of the argument rather than a decorative backdrop. Amorepacific founder Suh Sungwhan began cultivating tea on Jeju after seeking land suited to the crop, turning previously barren ground into plantations. Seogwang became one of the company’s Jeju tea gardens alongside Dolsongi and Hannam

That agricultural origin gives the branded campus more substance than a conventional product showroom. The museum, tea fields, roasting space, tasting areas and retail all occupy the same place, so the commercial side remains visibly tied to cultivation and processing

The experience

The campus combines broad views over the Seogwang rows with indoor galleries, Tea Roastery, Tea Terrace and Tea Stone. The museum itself covers Korean tea history and tea ware, while the field gives the exhibits a working landscape immediately outside

Tea Roastery brings production closest to the visitor. Pan-firing can be watched there, and freshly processed tea is available for tasting and purchase. That makes roasting more than a diagram in a gallery: heat and processing sit between the leaves in the field and the finished tea served elsewhere on the campus

Retail and café spaces are prominent. The same site brings together tea history, cultivation, processing and the O’sulloc brand. The useful distinction is between selling tea and showing where the product comes from. Seogwang’s rows, the roastery and the museum together keep that origin visible

History

The story begins in 1979, when Suh Sungwhan started developing tea cultivation on Jeju. The project expanded into several gardens as the company worked with the island’s volcanic soils and climate to establish a domestic tea-growing base

O’sulloc Tea Museum opened in September 2001 inside the Seogwang tea field. It was presented as Korea’s first museum devoted to tea, giving the plantation a public cultural space as well as a production landscape

The campus continued to grow around that original museum. Tea Stone added a dedicated space for tea classes and tasting, while roasting, café and retail functions made production and consumption increasingly visible beside the collection

A major renovation completed in 2023 reorganized the museum and added renewed spaces including Tea Roastery and Tea Terrace. The change strengthened the connection between indoor interpretation and the plantation outside, while expanding the visitor facilities around it

Before you go

General entry to the museum and main campus is free. Tea classes and other booked experiences are separate from ordinary admission and can require reservations or additional fees. Outdoor field viewing remains weather-dependent, while the main museum provides an indoor visit on the same campus