Online reservations for nighttime tours of Gyeongbokgung, the most recognized of the five Joseon-era (1392-1910) palaces in Seoul, will start Wednesday for tours running May 8-June 15.
Registration will open on Ticketlink on a first-come, first-served basis, with each person allowed to buy up to four tickets. For international tourists, tickets can be purchased on the day of the tour at Gwanghwamun, the main palace gate, upon showing an ID, such as a passport.
Tours will run from 7 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. every day except Mondays and Tuesdays, covering gates, halls, a pavilion and a garden on the palace grounds. Heungnyemun, Gyeongbokgung’s second gate, can be thought of “as the face of Joseon,” said an official at the Korea Heritage Service, the agency organizing the tours.
“The Japanese tore it down and built the Government-General Building there to block the view of Gyeongbokgung. Heungnyemun is a symbol of Koreans’ desire to rediscover their national pride,” the official said about the gate’s restoration in 2001.
From May 21-24, musicians from the National Gugak Center will perform traditional Korean music with a focus on royal court music.
siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com
