Changdeokgung main hall tours available in English in March
Free guided tours of the royal hall Injeongjeon at Changdeokgung -- one of the five Joseon-era (1392-1910) palaces in Seoul -- will run for the entire month of March, according to the Korea Heritage Service.
A 15-minute stop at Injeongjeon will be added to the existing tours of the palace covering major palace buildings. The stop will offer a rare look inside Injeongjeon, the main hall of the palace, where key royal ceremonies from proclamations to weddings took place.
Kings discussed day-to-day matters of the state with officials and received foreign dignitaries at the hall. Behind the throne in the hall is a folding screen called Irwoloakdo -- literally 'the sun, moon and five peaks' -- a combination symbolizing the country itself.
Weekday tours are available only on Wednesdays and Thursdays. On either day, tours in Korean and English will be available separately at 9:30 a.m. and 10:15 a.m. Tours in Japanese will start at 11 a.m. on Wednesdays, while Chinese tours will start at 10 a.m. on Thursdays.
Twenty people who have made reservations online at the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center website, royal.khs.go.kr, will be able to join the tours.
The weekend tours take place Fridays through Sundays, all beginning at 10:30 a.m. Five people who come to Geumhomun, west of the palace, ahead of the time will be able to join 15 others who have booked the tours online.
Weekday tours will offer a snapshot of the vast palace grounds, while weekend tours focus on understanding the royal duties exercised there.
The KHS says more preparations are still required to run weekend tours in languages other than Korean.
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