Smoking, peeing and open hostility: Visitor misconduct blights Seoul's royal palaces as tourism surges

Smoking in restricted areas, public urination, unauthorized drone filming and vandalized window screens have become routine at Korea's royal palaces, staff say, amid a rise in visitor numbers.

"Foreign tourists come in groups to play cards or urinate in the street, and sometimes they dance in a circle, almost like ganggangsullae," said Lee Gwang-sam, chief of the security office at Gyeongbok Palace's management office in Jongno District, central Seoul, referring to the traditional Korean circle dance.

"But smoking is the most common. What are they going to do if a fire breaks out?"

Lee, who has worked at Gyeongbok and Changdeok palaces in Seoul since 1993, said enforcement actions have increased sharply in recent months.

A total of 15,031,603 people visited Gyeongbok, Changdeok, Changgyeong and Deoksu palaces and Jongmyo Shrine in Seoul last year, of whom 4,226,371, or about 28 percent, were foreign tourists, according to the Korea Heritage Service (KHS). Visits to the same locations have already topped 11 million this year through August.

The misconduct ranges from casual disregard for palace rules to behavior that has resulted in fines or damage to cultural heritage.

Visitors are frequently seen sitting on the rank stones in front of Geunjeong Hall, stone markers that indicated where officials stood according to rank during royal ceremonies. Others lie down on the wooden porches of palace buildings or enter restricted areas without permission.

Staff also detect unauthorized drone filming two or three times a month. Last November, police fined a foreign visitor on the spot after the person was caught urinating against a wall near Sinmumun, the palace's north gate.

On a recent Wednesday, multiple holes were also visible in the hanji (mulberry paper) covering the windows around Gangnyeong Hall, which served as the king's sleeping quarters during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The damage is believed to have been caused by visitors touching or puncturing the paper to look inside.

Some exploit a rule that waives admission for anyone wearing a hanbok, the traditional Korean dress, within the palace grounds. "People hide toy swords inside the long sleeves and stage mock sword fights inside," Lee said. "That kind of behavior can disrupt other visitors, so we stop it on the spot."

There are also a few who visit dressed as Chinese emperors or Japanese samurai. “It may be inappropriate in the context of a Korean royal palace, but there are no specific rules we can enforce against it.”

Korea has long had a complex history with its Chinese and Japanese neighbors, including centuries of tributary relations to Chinese emperors and an 1895 incident in which the Korean queen was assassinated at Gyeongbok Palace at the behest of Japan's top diplomat in Seoul, reportedly using rogue samurai.  

Under Article 6 of Korea's Regulation on Viewing of Palaces and Royal Tombs, visitors can be barred from touring if they carry exercise or play equipment, musical instruments, loudspeakers or other items that could disrupt others' viewing or the preservation of the heritage site. Visitors can also be stopped for drinking, inappropriate attire, shamanistic rituals, disorderly shouting, private ancestral rites, religious gatherings, loud singing, public indecency, damaging heritage property such as through graffiti, or other conduct that disrupts other visitors or heritage preservation.

The trouble, staff say, is that many visitors turn hostile once they are caught on CCTV or confronted on the spot, verbally or physically assaulting palace employees.

"Visitors file complaints asking us to crack down on this kind of behavior, but our staff run into real difficulties when they actually try to enforce the rules, and that's a serious concern for us," said Kim Tae-young, director of Gyeongbok Palace's management office.

Amid growing concern over such misconduct, the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center, under the KHS, is running a five-day campaign through Friday to promote proper etiquette at the country's four major palaces. On Wednesday, KHS Administrator Huh Min joined campaign ambassadors Athena and Yewon of girl group Fifty Fifty at Gyeongbok Palace to hand out fans printed with etiquette guidelines.

The KHS also held a public forum earlier this month to discuss overhauling admission fees, including free entry for hanbok-clad visitors, differentiated pricing for foreign tourists and phased fee increases. Adult admission currently costs 3,000 won ($2) at Gyeongbok and Changdeok palaces, and 1,000 won at Changgyeong and Deoksu palaces, Jongmyo Shrine and the major royal tombs. But because of various discount and free-admission programs, 69 percent of all visitors last year got in for free.

BY KANG HYE-RAN [[email protected]]