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Seoul’s Changdeok Palace opens for silent morning strolls
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By
Jhoo Dong-chan
Published
May 6, 2026 2:18 pm
KST
A visitor takes a photo at Changdeokgung Palace in Seoul, March 27. Yonhap
Changdeokgung, the storied “Palace of Prosperous Virtue,” is widely revered as the most quintessentially Korean of the Joseon Dynasty’s royal residences. The palace was designed to harmonize with the undulating topography of Mount Bugak, making it a masterpiece of East Asian landscape architecture and a UNESCO World Heritage site. On Tuesday, the Korea Heritage Service announced a rare opportunity to experience this architecture in its purest form through a series of docent-free morning strolls through the palace’s fabled Secret Garden.
The program, aptly titled “mueon jajeok (silent walk)," will run from May 14 to 17. For 90 minutes each morning, starting at 7:30 a.m., a small group of participants will be permitted to wander the historic grounds before the heavy gates swing open to the general public.
In a departure from typical docent-led tours, the experience is designed as an exercise in "viewing through emptiness." There will be no narration and no historical lectures. Instead, visitors are invited to walk at their own pace, letting the morning light, the burble of garden streams and the wind in the pines provide the soundtrack. To facilitate quiet reflection, chairs will be placed near the Buyongji and Aeryeonji ponds, allowing guests to sit in stillness.
A significant draw is the inclusion of Seohyanggak, a building within the restricted Juhamnu Pavilion that is typically shielded from public view. The interiors of Yeonghwa Hall and Aeryeon Pavilion will also be accessible, offering unencumbered views of the garden to reveal a design philosophy where natural surroundings are framed as extensions of the architecture.
The sessions are limited to 25 adults each to preserve the atmosphere. Tickets, priced at 10,000 won ($6.87), will be available on a first-come, first-served basis via Interpark starting May 8. Further inquiries can be directed to the Changdeok Palace website at royal.khs.go.kr/cdg or by phone at 02-3668-2300.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.
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