[2026 National Assembly Audit] Palace and Royal Tomb Fee Hike for January Put on Hold... 'Service Improvements' Come First

Plan to adjust admission fees, frozen for 20 years, put on hold for now
Information signs, rest areas, restrooms and mobile entry to be improved first
Hanbok free-admission criteria also under review... new fees and start date undecided
Admission

The government has effectively postponed its plan to raise admission fees for palaces and royal tombs, which was set to take effect next January. Instead of raising fees first, it will improve visitor services, including information facilities, restrooms, and reservation and entry systems, before establishing an appropriate fee structure. It will also review the fairness of free admission for Hanbok wearers and the criteria for eligibility.

Citizens and foreign tourists are heading to Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul. Yonhap News

According to materials submitted by the National Heritage Administration (NHA) to Rep. Choi Min-hee of the Democratic Party of Korea, who requested them, at the National Assembly’s Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee audit on Oct. 8, the NHA has changed its original schedule of announcing a plan to adjust palace and royal tomb admission fees in November this year and applying the new fees from Jan. 1, 2027.

The new approach changes the order from “raise admission fees, then improve services” to “improve visitor services → establish a reasonable fee structure → implement.” The new fees and the dates for announcing and implementing them have not yet been decided. The fee increase itself has not been scrapped, but the originally announced plan to implement it next January has effectively fallen through.

At a second-half work report chaired by the president last August, the NHA identified adjusting admission fees for palaces and royal tombs, which have been frozen for more than 20 years, as a key reform task. It also set out a specific schedule: hold public discussions, including a public forum, announce new fee standards in November, and apply them starting next year.

For adults, admission to Gyeongbokgung Palace and Changdeokgung Palace currently costs 3,000 won each, while admission to Deoksugung Palace, Changgyeonggung Palace, and Jongmyo Shrine costs 1,000 won each. Admission to most Joseon royal tombs is around 1,000 won. Fees for palaces and royal tombs have effectively remained unchanged for more than 20 years, since they were adjusted in 2005.

Research and public consultation have also been conducted to support the fee adjustments. At a public forum held last month, the results of a survey of 6,635 people, including experts and members of the public, were released. Ninety percent of experts and 50% of the general public supported raising admission fees.

The average admission fee considered appropriate by the public was 9,203 won for historic palaces and 7,196 won for royal tomb sites. Experts considered 7,940 won and 5,950 won, respectively, to be appropriate. During the research, a phased adjustment plan involving fees of 5,000 won for historic palaces and Jongmyo Shrine and 3,000 won for royal tomb sites was also considered.

The NHA has slowed the process because it believes the visitor experience needs to be improved before fees are raised. It plans to add more signs and rest areas, renovate aging restrooms, and expand contactless payments, multilingual kiosks, advance reservations, and mobile tickets. Improvements to guided services using artificial intelligence (AI) and mobile technology are also planned.

The free-admission program for Hanbok wearers will also be reviewed. Visitors can currently enter palaces and royal tombs for free when wearing Hanbok, but disputes have continued at sites over what qualifies as Hanbok, including everyday Hanbok and traditional clothing from other countries, and how wearing requirements should be defined. The NHA plans to review the scope of qualifying Hanbok and the criteria for wearing it, as well as the fairness and effectiveness of the program.

Visitor numbers are rising rapidly, but admission revenue has instead declined. Last year, a total of 17,814,848 people visited the four major palaces, Jongmyo Shrine, and the Joseon royal tombs, a 12.9% increase from 15,780,129 in 2024 and a record high. Of these, 4,269,278 were foreign visitors, accounting for about 24% of the total.

Looking only at the four major palaces and Jongmyo Shrine, visitor numbers rose 14.6%, from 13,121,020 in 2024 to 15,031,603 last year. By contrast, admission revenue for the Palace and Royal Tombs Center fell 2.3% over the same period, from 12.37934 billion won to 12.09848 billion won.

The decline was largely driven by a 4.1% drop in paying visitors, while the number of visitors admitted for free rose 25.6%. The share of paying visitors among all visitors also fell from 37.2% to 31.1%. In other words, about two out of every three visitors enter for free.

Eligibility for free admission is currently broad, based on factors such as age and whether a person is a recipient of national merit, and includes Hanbok wearers. This is why some argue that discussions about adjusting admission fees should address the scope and fairness of the free-admission program, rather than simply raising prices.

Rep. Choi said, “Adjusting admission fees for palaces and royal tombs is not simply a matter of raising prices. It must take into account the public’s right to enjoy culture, the preservation and management of palaces and royal tombs, and service improvements. We must develop reasonable measures after sufficient public discussion while minimizing the burden on the public.”

The NHA plans to prioritize service improvements and then establish a new fee structure after comprehensively reviewing the burden on the public, public access, and the free-admission program.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.