Gyeongbokgung Palace will close for a day next month due to a BTS concert at Gwanghwamun in Seoul.
The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center under the Korea Heritage Service announced on the 28th that public access to Gyeongbokgung will be restricted on Saturday, the 21st of next month.
Gyeongbokgung has traditionally designated Tuesdays as its regular closing day. However, the schedule was changed after BTS confirmed a live performance in the Gwanghwamun Square area on the 21st of next month. Police estimate up to 260,000 people could attend the concert.
BTS is reportedly in discussions to meet fans by walking through Gwanghwamun Gate and the Woldae platform with Gyeongbokgung as a backdrop before ascending a stage erected at the northern end of the square. According to Cultural Heritage Committee meeting minutes released by the Korea Heritage Service, the group's agency has submitted a filming plan for "an opening sequence in which all three arched gates (Hongyemun) of Gwanghwamun open and the artists walk through them to Gwanghwamun Square."
The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, adjacent to Gwanghwamun Square, will also close on the Saturday of the concert. Sejong Center for the Performing Arts is canceling or rescheduling musicals, plays, ballet performances, and other scheduled events. The National Palace Museum of Korea, located next to Gyeongbokgung, is also reviewing whether to close.
