A newly painted palace hall in Seoul will offer visitors a closer look at Korea’s royal past this November, with experts exploring vanished palace spaces, ceremonial incense burners and the fragrances used in Joseon-era court rituals. The Gyeongbok Palace Management Office, under the Korea Heritage Service’s Royal Palaces and Tombs Center, will host four sessions of its Heungbokjeon Royal Culture Academy on Saturdays from Nov. 7-28. The free program will take place at Heungbokjeon, a hall within Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul, and is designed to help participants explore royal history through two themes: palace architecture and the cultural significance of incense burners. The opening lecture on Nov. 7 will feature writer Lee Man-hee, who will draw on his book, “Secrets of the Palace No One Tells You,” to examine spaces within Gyeongbok Palace that no longer exist, using historical materials, including the Bukgwoldohyeong, an old architectural plan of the northern palace. The following three sessions will focus on the incense burner at Geunjeongjeon, Gyeongbok Palace’s main