Last Year, Historic Palaces and Joseon Royal Tombs Recorded a Record High of 13.38 Million Visitors

On the 9th, with the clear autumn weather continuing, citizens and foreign tourists visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace in Jongno-gu, Seoul, are strolling through the royal palace, enjoying the autumn atmosphere. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Last year, the number of visitors to the Four Major Palaces, Jongmyo Shrine, and Joseon Royal Tombs reached an all-time high.

The Cultural Heritage Administration's Palace and Royal Tombs Division announced on the 6th that approximately 13.38 million people visited Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, Jongmyo Shrine, and the Joseon Royal Tombs last year. This surpasses the previous record of 13,044,458 visitors in 2016. It is also a 17.8% increase compared to about 11.36 million visitors in 2018.

The Palace and Royal Tombs Division cited factors contributing to the increase in visitors, including expanded opening of palace buildings, opening of Onneung in Yangju, regular nighttime openings of Changgyeonggung, expansion of foreign language guides, increased events for foreigners, and admission fee discounts for families with multiple children.

The total annual admission revenue was approximately 12.02564 billion KRW, which is about 4.4 billion KRW less than the approximately 16.43247 billion KRW recorded in 2016. The division analyzed that this was due to a significant increase in the number of people entering for free. Admission fees are used for improving the palace and royal tomb environments.

On the 11th, foreign tourists and citizens visiting Gyeongbokgung Palace in Jongno-gu, Seoul, are enjoying their time. To commemorate the 74th Liberation Day, the Cultural Heritage Administration is offering free admission to the Four Grand Palaces?Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung, and Changgyeonggung?as well as Jongmyo Shrine and the Joseon Royal Tombs until the 25th. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

The palaces with the highest number of visitors were Gyeongbokgung (about 5.34 million), Deoksugung (about 2.41 million), Changdeokgung (about 1.78 million), and Changgyeonggung (about 870,000), in that order. Approximately 470,000 visitors came to Jongmyo Shrine.

Among the Joseon Royal Tombs, the Yeoju Sejong the Great Royal Tombs Management Office, where the tombs of King Sejong and King Hyojong are located, had the most visitors, about 410,000. Seonjeongneung in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, had about 380,000 visitors, Seooreung in Goyang had about 330,000, and Yungneung and Geolleung in Hwaseong each had about 330,000 visitors. The total number of visitors to all Joseon Royal Tombs was about 2.51 million.

Approximately 2.57 million foreigners visited the palaces, Jongmyo Shrine, and Joseon Royal Tombs, a 21.2% increase from the previous year. Visitors from Chinese-speaking regions increased by 100.4%, and visitors from Southeast Asia and other language groups also increased by 18.8%. The Palace and Royal Tombs Division reported, “The number of visitors from English-speaking and Japanese-speaking regions slightly decreased. The number of visitors from Chinese-speaking regions surpassed those from English-speaking regions.”