POSCO’s cultural complex Park1538, first introduced in Pohang in 2021, has now officially opened in Gwangyang — this time under the name “Park1538 Gwangyang.” The facility officially opened on April 3 and began welcoming the general public on April 14. Park1538 Gwangyang consists of a promotion hall, art museum, and education center. Today, we explore the key highlights of the Art Museum and Education Center at Park1538 Gwangyang.

The POSCO Art Museum Gwangyang is located on the first and second floors of Park1538 Gwangyang. It is a space planned to bring a wave of culture and art to the city of light, Gwangyang. POSCO aims to expand the region’s cultural infrastructure through high-level art exhibitions in the future.

The museum’s inaugural exhibition is titled “Journey of the LIGHT.” To mark the 33rd anniversary of the full completion of Gwangyang Works, 33 selected pieces from the POSCO Group art collection are on display.

The exhibition is divided into two parts: Part 1, themed “The Light Within,” showcases representative works of Korean abstract painting. Part 2, themed “The Light of Nature,” features bright, warm landscapes filled with natural beauty.

The final stop is the education center. The education center is themed around POSCO’s innovation journey, titled “Innovation Wave.” Approximately 1,430 tons of POSCO steel, including PosMAC, were used in the construction materials. The building’s design was inspired by the bamboo groves of Gwangyang’s Maehwa Village, creating a warm and open space for creativity and communication.

Inside, the center is divided into two main areas: the Leadership Education Center, focused on theoretical learning, and the Technical Training Center, centered on practical skills. Spanning from the basement level to the third floor, the facility houses 26 classrooms and can accommodate up to 1,155 trainees. Additional facilities include a staff cafeteria with 150 seats and a Paul Bassett café.

One of the most eye-catching features of Park1538 Gwangyang is the bold architecture of its promotional hall and education center. Beyond the buildings lies another highlight—the landscaping. Designed to harmonize with the architecture, the surrounding landscape was planned to offer a variety of colors throughout the seasons.

Let’s take a look at the large tree in front of the education center. This is a silver osmanthus, which serves as a symbolic centerpiece of Park1538. A tree species commonly found in Korea’s southern regions, the silver osmanthus blooms with silvery flowers in autumn and spreads its fragrance far and wide. This particular tree was transplanted from the grounds of an old school in Jeollanam-do. Estimated to be over 50 years old, it shares a parallel history with POSCO’s long-standing growth. Once a guardian of a place of learning, the silver osmanthus will now continue to grow at the heart of POSCO’s new foundation for nurturing talent.

Another key feature is the Steel Planter Box. Created in collaboration with the Gwangyang Works Maintenance Technology Department, it looks like a massive stone but is actually a repurposed steel block. It was dropped from a 25-meter height over several years in the steel yard to crush industrial sludge, gradually forming its current shape. Its rugged yet resilient form reflects POSCO’s own spirit—one of challenge, persistence, and transformation through adversity.

POSCO’s cultural complex Park1538, first introduced in Pohang in 2021, has now officially opened in Gwangyang — this time under the name “Park1538 Gwangyang.” The facility officially opened on April 3 and began welcoming the general public on April 14. Park1538 Gwangyang consists of a promotional hall, art museum, and education center. Among them, the promotional hall is designed to fill the city of light, Gwangyang, with a wave of culture. Shall we explore the main highlights of Park1538 Gwangyang’s promotional hall together with the POSCO group Newsroom?

Now, let’s officially begin our tour! As you enter the first floor of the promotional hall, you’re welcomed by a massive media wall measuring 10 meters tall and 4 meters wide. Beyond this Welcome Wall, visitors step into the Immersive Theater, where they experience POSCO’s story of sustainable steel.

Inside the Immersive Theater, visitors experience the transformation of iron ore through a powerful four-sided projection mapping show. The journey begins as iron ore, the source of steel, combines with the four classical elements and is ultimately forged into steel. Steel continuously builds the world and returns to nature, completing an endless cycle. Through interactive video that responds to visitor movement, viewers feel as if they are directly participating in steel’s journey.

In the Theme Hall on the first floor, visitors can view the artwork “STAR” by artist Jeong-hwa Choi. Inspired by the dynamic boiling of iron at its melting point of 1,538°C, the sculpture is composed of 1,538 stainless steel spheres. Like the “Smart Light” sculpture outside the promotional hall, this piece is also made of POSCO STS316 stainless steel.

As you head up to the third floor of the promotional hall, you are greeted by the “Memory of Steel” History Zone. Here, visitors can explore POSCO’s bold challenge of building a steelworks from barren, undeveloped land—told through historical photographs, videos, and archival materials. From the early construction of the Pohang and Gwangyang Works to the present day, this exhibit highlights the strength and perseverance of POSCO’s journey.

While walking through the History Zone, visitors will also encounter “The People Who Make POSCO.” This interactive space allows visitors to search for current POSCO employees who are actively contributing to the company’s history. By entering the name of a current employee, their photo and department will appear on a large screen. It’s a fun and meaningful way to look up family members, friends, or colleagues who currently work at POSCO. In addition, a POSCO Hall of Honor is located within the same zone, where visitors can learn about individuals who have made significant contributions to the company’s growth and legacy.

Next, you enter the “Present of Steel” Steelmaking Process Zone. Here, working models of each production stage, along with synchronized video displays, offer a vivid and realistic experience of how steel is made. After passing through the vivid Steelmaking Process Zone that feels like stepping into a real steel plant, you enter the Transition Area, where ships loaded with POSCO’s steel cut through the sea and head out into the world.

You then continue to the “World of Steel” Product Display Zone. In the Product Display Zone, visitors can explore POSCO’s products and technologies applied in everyday life. In the first area, visitors encounter steel applied in various fields such as renewable energy, shipbuilding, energy terminals, and future smart cities.

In the second area, visitors can experience POSCO’s innovative steel up close. Visitors can watch a robot-arm performance that presents POSCO’s development of eco-friendly automotive steel and solutions—flagship products of Gwangyang Works.

The third area presents the uses of steel in everyday life—including home appliances, furniture, and objects made from PosART, stainless steel, and other specialty materials.

After completing the tour from the Beginning of Steel on the first floor to the Product Display Zones on the third floor, visitors are guided to the final destination—the “Vision of Steel” Vision Theater, where they can watch POSCO’s brand film. In this space, a panoramic wide screen measuring 15 meters in width and 3.93 meters in height delivers a vivid and immersive experience of the passion of POSCO employees, the birth of steel, and the convenient world made possible through steel. It also offers a glimpse into POSCO’s future, moving forward together with its stakeholders.

In the next article, Part 2, we’ll introduce the key highlights of the art museum and education center at Park1538 Gwangyang—so stay tuned!

▼Park1538 Gwangyang X Lia Kim Watch the video (click)

Gwangyang, once an industrial city, transforms into a tourist destination through Park1538 Gwangyang and the Gubongsan Mountain experiential sculpture

POSCO Group Chairman In-hwa Chang : “An open cultural space that envisions the future together with the local community”

The second Park1538, following Pohang — an immersive journey through the world of steel guided by the light wave

Gwangyang, the city of steel and light, is being reborn as a premium cultural city.

On June 3, POSCO opened Park1538 Gwangyang and embarked on a journey of light, where culture and industry coexist with the citizens of Gwangyang.

Park1538 first made its appearance in Pohang four years ago. The name Park1538 is made by combining Park, a space that embraces people, and 1538, the Celsius melting point of iron. It symbolizes the beautiful moment right before iron becomes something else and the passion of POSCO employees.

The blazing flame that was ignited in Pohang has now continued in Gwangyang as a new light wave. Park1538 Gwangyang consists of a promotional hall and an education center. To allow visitors to enjoy high-quality culture and art, the POSCO Art Museum Gwangyang has also been introduced within the promotional hall. As the opening exhibition, “Journey of the LIGHT” is being held, and to commemorate the 33 years since the full completion of POSCO’s integrated steelworks a quarter-century ago, 33 artworks have been carefully selected from the POSCO Group’s collection for display.

▲A group photo was taken at the Park1538 Gwangyang opening ceremony (From left: Hee-min Jeong, President of POSCO E&C; Kyeong-geun Lee, Head of Yeosu Employment and Labor Office; Dae-won Choi, Chairperson of the Gwangyang City Council; Seong-ho Kim, Chairman of the POSCO Labor Union; In-hwa Jeong, Mayor of Gwangyang; In-hwa Chang, Chairman of POSCO Group; Hyang-yeop Kwon, Member of the National Assembly; Chang-hwan Park, Vice Governor of Jeollanam-do for Economic Affairs; Hee-geun Lee, President of POSCO; Tae-kyun Kim, Chairperson of the Jeollanam-do Provincial Council; Jin-man Park, Director of the Korea Industrial Complex Corporation; Chul-geun Kim, Representative of the POSCO Labor-Management Council).

The opening ceremony was attended not only by POSCO Group Chairman In-hwa Chang, POSCO President Hee-geun Lee, POSCO E&C President Hee-min Jeong, POSCO Labor Union Chairman Seong-ho Kim, and POSCO Labor-Management Council Representative Chul-geun Kim, but also by key regional figures such as National Assembly Member Hyang-yeop Kwon, Vice Governor of Jeollanam-do for Economic Affairs Chang-hwan Park, and Gwangyang Mayor In-hwa Jeong.

In his commemorative speech, Chairman In-hwa Chang said, “To realize the tomorrow we dream of, it is more important than anything else to gain support from stakeholders including the local community.” He added, “I hope this will become an open, premium cultural space that reflects the past, present, and future that POSCO and the local community have built together.”

POSCO plans to link Park1538 Gwangyang with the experiential sculpture currently under construction on Gubongsan Mountain, tentatively named “Beacon of Eternity,” and develop it into a landmark of the Gwangyang region. In addition, the company will continue close cooperation with Gwangyang City to attract more visitors by connecting Park1538 Gwangyang with the city’s main tourist destinations such as Maehwa Village and the Okryongsa Temple Site Camellia Forest.

In 2021, POSCO enhanced Pohang’s standing as a tourist city by establishing Park1538 and the experiential sculpture “Space Walk.” Based on that experience, POSCO now aims to transform Gwangyang—a city of steel and logistics—into a sophisticated city where culture and industry coexist, through collaboration with the local government and residents.

Park1538 Gwangyang operates on a reservation basis. Starting April 14, anyone can visit free of charge via the official website (http://park1538.posco.com). A visit takes approximately 60 minutes. The art museum offers docent-led programs twice daily at 11:00 AM and 3:00 PM, and general admission is available without a reservation.

▲Park1538 Gwangyang promotional hall exterior.

▲Park1538 Gwangyang promotional hall exterior(front).

▲Night view of Park1538 Gwangyang promotional hall.