University museums are centers of preservation and research. The beginnings of university museums in the West demonstrate the concentration on the systematization of collecting and the use of the collections for teaching. However, most university museums do not serve as cultural centers communicating to the broader community beyond specialist knowledge. This is true for not only the West but the East as well. In conjunction with the 2004 Intemational Council of Museums general conference taking place in the Republic of Korea (ROK), this paper will focus on the university museums in the ROK. Statistics show that one-third of all the museums in the ROK are university museums. There is a strong commitment to preservation and research of specialist fields in archaeology and folk culture and history in these museums. The purpose of this paper is to exarnine their current and future role and importance in the Korean museum community. Three strands will be explored. They are: the evolution and current state of university museums in the West; the background of university museums in Korea; and the problematics and future direction of university museums in the ROK. It is argued that there is a definite need for re-direction of university museums in the ROK to serve as cultural centers in the region.