Seoul suspends cultural activities ahead of impeachment ruling

Yeongdeungpo-gu, a district in western Seoul, announced Wednesday that it will postpone the start of the annual Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival from Friday to Tuesday, due to safety concerns surrounding the Constitutional Court’s upcoming ruling on suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment.

According to the district office, the decision was made to prioritize visitor safety and convenience, as well as to prevent crowd crushes. It added that a portion of the festival program will be reduced in scale.

The revised festival period is to be April 8 to 12, with traffic control measures set to be implemented from noon on Sunday until 10 p.m. on April 13. Controlled sections include the 1.7-kilometer stretch of road behind the National Assembly and areas near the southern part of Sogang Bridge.

Different cultural heritage events scheduled to take place on the day of the impeachment ruling have been canceled as well, according to the Korea Heritage Service.

With large rallies expected near the court, not far from Seoul's main royal palaces, the KHS also canceled an event showcasing traditional Korean ways of making fermented soybean pastes and soy sauce, known as “jang,” the royal guard’s ceremony at Gyeongbokgung, nighttime palace tours at Changdeokgung and Deoksugung’s Seokjojeon -- an early neoclassical stone palace, built during King Gojong’s reign (1863-1907).

Four of the five palaces of the Joseon era (1392-1910) — Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Deoksugung — and state-run museums such as the National Palace Museum of Korea and National Folk Museum of Korea have announced closures, saying protests anticipated on Friday could affect guest safety.

Changgyeonggung, the farthest of the four palaces from the court, which is near Anguk Station in Jongno-gu, will close its nighttime tours only, though an official said daytime admission could be affected without prior notice.

Museums and art galleries located within a 1-kilometer radius of the Gwanghwamun area have also decided to close on Friday.

Other sites popular with tourists to close include the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Seoul, National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, National Palace Museum of Korea and Cheong Wa Dae, the former presidential office and residence open to the public since Yoon moved the presidential office and residence to Yongsan-gu.

The Seoul Museum of Craft Art went on a three-day break from Wednesday, and Sejong Center for the Performing Arts will close its exhibitions on the day of the ruling.

Whether the palaces and museums will remain closed after Friday remains unclear. Officials from the institutions said they would update the public on further changes to access in a separate notice.

Meanwhile, police previously vowed to seal off the Constitutional Court tightly from all sides with bus barricades and empty the surrounding area within a radius of 100 meters around the court.

Authorities announced they will expand the initial 100-meter radius to 300 meters by creating barricades with police buses and preventing public access to areas near the court.

Police are also considering the establishment of a separate buffer zone near Gwanghwamun and Insa-dong, two areas south of the Constitutional Court, to prevent any possibility of physical confrontation between demonstrators for and against Yoon’s impeachment.

The ruling is scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday. It will be broadcast live from the court.