The museum is located on the outskirts of Seoul's Olympic Park complex. Take underground line 8 to Mongchontoseong Station, take exit number one and continue straight ahead past the landmark Peace Gate. The museum is just to the left of the main plaza, at the end of the path running between the buildings marked Olympic Plaza A and B.
Dedicated to the Ancient Olympics, their decline and eventual restoration, the first hall, on the right of the entrance, has several interesting wall displays, interactive exhibits and other artifacts on subjects such as Baron Pierre de Coubertin, who revived the Olympics in an attempt to repair the shattered morale of French youth in the wake of their humiliating defeat at the hands of the Prussians.
Back into the entrance hall and up the staircase, the Place of Harmony is the first hall on the left. Taking its name from the motto of the Seoul Olympics, this room has exhibits detailing the journey of the Torch Relay, a cut-away model of the main stadium, video footage of the opening ceremony and individual displays of twenty-seven sports. The dominant feature in the room, though, is undoubtedly the modernistic, curving exhibit spelling out '1988 SEOUL OLYMPICS' in two-metre high blue neon lettering.
The least interesting of the halls, the Place of Prosperity, is in truth little more than an exercise in self-congratulation. There are a few interesting exhibits, namely the collection of pennants, coins and badges in the centre of the room, but they are overshadowed by giant slogans such as 'The Olympic Games of Advanced Technology', 'The Olympics of Safety', 'The Olympics of Culture' and the 'Olympics of Management'. You can safely skip all this without any sense of loss.
With a 100-seat capacity, the motion simulator takes you on a 13-minute ride back through time to the Seoul Olympics at 25-minute intervals between 10am and 4.15pm. Following an initial rollercoaster ride, you enter the Opening Ceremony, enjoy a spoke-level view of a race at the nearby Cycling velodrome, bob along with the waves during a Yacht race and track the progress of the ball around a Hockey field. It's all very entertaining, with the combination of the motion and graphics succeeding in keeping a class of Korean schoolchildren spellbound for the entire duration of the ride. When it's all over, leave by the door on the right-hand side of the room and follow the stairs back down to the Gift shop.