Changdeokgung’s Huijeongdang and Daejojeon: lottery tours Oct. 20–30

A special interior tour

The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center’s program, whose Korean title means entering the king and queen’s living quarters, takes visitors inside both halls with a guide. Traditional Korean exteriors enclose Western-style facilities and decoration.

Public sessions run Tuesday through Saturday from October 20 to 30, 2026. The event heading gives October 31 as the end date, but that day is invitation-only.

Royal living and working rooms

Naejeon refers to the palace’s inner residential quarters. The National Palace Museum describes Huijeongdang as both a residence and an office for Emperor Sunjong. After Japan’s annexation of Korea in 1910 stripped him of governing power, it served as an audience room for meeting family, officials and dignitaries. Daejojeon was the imperial couple’s private residence.

Interiors rebuilt in 1920

Changdeokgung was founded in 1405, but the two halls are much later. A fire in 1917 destroyed the residential halls, including Huijeongdang and Daejojeon, which were rebuilt in 1920 with building materials moved from Gyeongbokgung. The National Palace Museum says the reconstructed halls kept traditional exteriors while adding Western facilities and interior decoration.

The interiors are also bound up with the royal family’s changed position after annexation. The accompanying interior photographs are archival and may not match the arrangement or lighting on tour days.

Mountains, phoenixes and cranes

Huijeongdang holds murals by Kim Gyu-jin depicting Chongseokjeong and Manmulsang in Geumgangsan. Daejojeon’s Phoenixes and White Cranes feature those birds. The Korea Heritage Service links the phoenix with peace and marital harmony and the crane with longevity in court painting.

The works were not painted directly on the walls. Made in 1920, they were painted on silk, backed with paper and mounted on the walls, a form called bubyeokhwa. The originals were moved to the National Palace Museum for conservation, and reproductions hang in the halls.

Lottery closes Oct 16, 10 a.m.

Applications are taken through the Changdeokgung section of the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center website from 10 a.m. on October 13 to 10 a.m. on October 16 KST, under the reservation entry “왕과 왕비의 생활공간, 창덕궁 내전에 들다 관람 예약”. Each ID may apply once for up to two places. Participants must be 19 or older, and each session has 24 places. There are no group bookings or walk-ins.

Winners will be notified by Alimtalk and text message after 10 a.m. on October 16. The acknowledgement sent on application is not a winning notice. Only winners may take part, and places can be transferred only to family members with a family-relationship certificate. All times are Korea Standard Time, UTC+9.

Times and admission

Sessions run from 10 to 11:10 a.m. and from 2:30 to 3:40 p.m., about 70 minutes each, on October 20–24 and 27–30. The tour is free, but palace admission is not. The standard ticket for foreign visitors aged 19–64 is KRW 3,000, and those 65 or over qualify for free entry. Free-admission days and other exemptions are on the official fee page.

Winner check-in runs 9:30–9:50 a.m. for the morning session and 2–2:20 p.m. for the afternoon. Winners show their notification and ID at the information desk in Changdeokgung’s visitor support center to receive a pass and brochure, then buy palace admission and wait at the World Heritage monument inside Geumhomun Gate, where the tour starts at the session time.

Conditions for foreign visitors

The notice does not say whether overseas mobile numbers can be used, which ID documents foreign visitors may present, or whether English or Japanese interpretation is offered. Enquiries: Changdeokgung office, +82-2-3668-2300.

Late arrivals cannot join. Wheelchairs and strollers cannot enter the interiors, and food and drinks are prohibited. The palace is at 99 Yulgok-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul. Details were checked on October 13, 2026.

Official directions give a five-minute walk from Exit 3 of Anguk Station on Line 3, or ten minutes from Exit 7 of Jongno 3-ga Station on Lines 1, 3 and 5. Check-in and assembly take additional time. There is no on-site parking, and public transport is recommended.