The Leeum Museum was designed by three powerhouse architects: Mario Botta, Rem Koolhaas, and Jean Nouvel. Impressive, right? And all in one place, though technically not a collaboration on the same building. Each architect designed one of the three buildings comprising the three parts of the museum. Building 1 contained classical Korean Art, Building 2, contemporary, and the third building -- referred to as a Child Education and Culture Center-- housed temporary exhibits.
I am more of a contemporary arts person (and honestly probably more of a Western art person) but I found the classic art exhibits to be very interesting and surprisingly very contemporary in look and feel. Some stand out pieces were those that showed a juxtaposition between traditional and contemporary so as to demonstrate how one influenced the other. For example, a huge moon jar from the Joseon dynasty displayed beside "Dark Side of the Moon," by Yee Sookyung; the traditional white porcelain vessel both contrasted and complemented the contemporary interpretation constructed of shards of discarded black pottery.
My very favorite works were by far the interactive installation pieces some of which were integrated into the architecture of the building. A walk down a stairwell and a ride in an elevator became an art experience. My most favorite piece in the museum, "Bells from the Deep," by Lee Bul -- which felt like walking into infinity -- or a scene from Interstellar. (This is where I also got in trouble with the guard for taking a photo.)
Outside of Nam June Paik, Hiroshi Sugimoto (one of my fave photogs), and Ai Weiwei my knowledge of Asian artists is embarrassingly low. In Art school when we studied Asian art it was traditional stuff-- ceramics and brush painting and religious icons -- not the modern stuff. Asian artists often get left out of modern museum collections so it was nice to see an entire collection of work by Asian (and Western) artists in one place. Bonus points for the cool architecture.
NOTE: The Samsung video/audio guide had photos available for free download -- all I had to do was tap my phone to the electronic device and instant transfer!. Downloaded photos have been credited as such above/