Foreign tourists visiting Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul, Jan. 5. Yonhap
Major royal palaces and tombs in Seoul will be open to the public for free during the Lunar New Year holiday, which runs from Feb. 14 to 18, while national museums across the country will host traditional games and performances to celebrate the Year of the Red Horse.
According to the Korea Heritage Service, the four main palaces — Gyeongbok, Changdeok, Changgyeong, and Deoksu — as well as the Jongmyo Shrine and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, will waive admission fees for the entire five-day period.
Jongmyo Shrine, which usually requires a reservation for guided tours, will be open for general self-guided viewing during the holiday.
At Gyeongbok Palace, the Korea Heritage Foundation will distribute 2,000 copies of a traditional New Year painting, or sehwa, per day from Feb. 16 to 18 at Heungnyemun Plaza. This year’s painting, titled "Gatekeeper with the Red Horse of the Zodiac," was created by Jeong Kui-ja, a master of folk painting designated as a Seoul Intangible Heritage. Sehwa were traditionally exchanged among people to ward off evil and bring good fortune for the coming year.
Citizens receive sehwa, traditional New Year paintings, at Gyeongbok Palace in central Seoul, Jan. 30, 2025, to mark the Lunar New Year holiday. Korea Times photo by Choi Ju-yeon
The National Folk Museum of Korea will host a special holiday event titled Bok-It-Seol," Feb. 16.
Visitors can try their hand at traditional fortune-telling using yut sticks (four wooden sticks used in a board game) in the main lobby or write New Year's wishes for their family and neighbors. The museum will also offer hands-on experiences, including making money envelopes and lucky bags (bokjumeoni), as well as traditional games such as jegi-chagi (shuttlecock kicking), ddakji (paper tile flipping), and top-spinning.
A special family performance, "Princess Bari’s Search for Sound" — a musical drama based on the Korean myth of the abandoned princess — will also be staged. The museum is currently running a special exhibition, "The Famous Feast of the Horse," to commemorate the Year of the Red Horse (Byeongo-year).
Plum blossom bonsai, known as "Ipchun Maehyang — The Fragrance of Plum Blossoms Heralding a New Spring," are on display at the entrance of the National Museum of Korea in Yongsan District, central Seoul. The special exhibition, which runs from Feb. 4 to Feb. 28, celebrates the arrival of spring during the Lunar New Year holiday period. Courtesy of National Museum of Korea
Source: Korea Times News
