Gyeongbokgung Palace Starlight Tour promises enticing evening

This is a night view of Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul's Jongno-gu District. (Palace's official X account)

By Koh Hyunjeong

Applications for ticket reservations for the Gyeongbokgung Palace Starlight Tour during the second half of the year began on Aug. 23 at 2 p.m.

The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center of the Cultural Heritage Administration on Aug. 22 said the night tour of the Joseon Dynasty palace will run from Sept. 8 to Oct. 8. twice a day in collaboration with the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation.

Launched in 2016, this popular interactive cultural experience explores the palace's hidden beauty at night and includes a gugak (traditional music) performance and court cuisine. 

This night tour features unique and hard-to-find experiences like a visit to Jibokjae Hall, or Joseon King Gojong's study room, to sit on the king's chair yonggyoeui and stamp a commemorative seal with jegojibo, the official seal of the Korean Empire (1897-1910).

Visitors can listen to gugak, munch on doseul surasang (court cuisine) served in a lunchbox and experience the night mood at the palace through commentary from an expert guide.

Tickets for the tour are sold under a new lottery system. The application deadline is Aug. 28 on Ticketlink's website (www.ticketlink.co.kr), with a limit of two tickets per applicant.

The list of successful applicants will be announced on Aug. 29 at 2 p.m., and they can make reservations from Aug. 30 at 2 p.m. to Sept. 4 for their desired dates and times. Admission is KRW 60,000 per person on a first-come, first-served basis.

For more information on the tour, visit the center's website (http://royal.cha.go.kr) or that of the foundation (www.chf.or.kr). For phone inquiries, call the center at (822) 1522-2295.

From : https://www.korea.net/NewsFocus/Culture/view?articleId=237521