Gyeongbokgung Palace and the National Palace Museum of Korea will close on March 21 due to the BTS concert at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul's Jongno District.
The Korea Heritage Service announced on March 1 that it recently held a comprehensive safety meeting, chaired by Commissioner Heo Min, to review safety measures for the BTS performance scheduled at Gyeongbokgung and the Gwanghwamun area on March 21. The meeting also addressed the recent surge in visitors to the four major palaces, Jongmyo Shrine, and the National Palace Museum of Korea.
Attendees included officials from the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center, directors of the four major palaces (Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung, and Changgyeonggung) and Jongmyo Shrine, security chiefs from each palace, and the director of the National Palace Museum of Korea. They reviewed safety management systems to protect heritage sites and visitors during large-scale cultural events and discussed on-site response measures for increased visitor traffic.
The agency developed a phased safety management plan for the Saturday concert at Gwanghwamun Square, a symbolic space of Korea. The event is expected to promote "K-Heritage" worldwide.
Gyeongbokgung Palace, the venue closest to the concert, will implement a three-phase plan. Phase one, to be completed one week before the event, includes coordinating with Jongno Police Station and other agencies, establishing emergency communication systems, operating perimeter patrol teams, and inspecting palace wall tiles near Gwanghwamun. Phase two covers the week leading up to the event, with continuous checks on visitor clearance from palace halls and restrooms and ongoing perimeter patrols. Phase three, on concert day March 21, involves a full closure of Gyeongbokgung, shutting down parking facilities to block all access, and activating an emergency duty system with all staff to prevent crowd incidents and damage to cultural heritage.
The National Palace Museum of Korea will also temporarily close on the concert day. The agency will activate its "Royal Heritage Emergency Response Team" to intensively inspect key areas including Yeongchumun, Gwanghwamun, and Geonchunmun gates. In coordination with police and related agencies, the team will implement traffic control and enhanced CCTV monitoring.
Sungnyemun (Namdaemun), where the BTS media facade show will be held, will implement crowd control measures on March 20. These include managing appropriate visitor capacity, separating pedestrian and audience traffic flows, deploying additional safety personnel, and conducting emergency operations. After the event, structures will be dismantled and the site restored to resume normal visits the following day.
The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center also established measures to strengthen safety infrastructure and on-site management systems in response to the continuous increase in palace visitors, separate from the BTS concert.
Plans include replacing outdated CCTV systems and installing new cameras in blind spots, improving fire safety equipment, strengthening regular safety inspections, and expanding on-site personnel including safety managers and in-house firefighters. The agency also plans to enhance multilingual visitor guidelines for foreign tourists and manage traffic flow in congested areas.
"We will make every effort to ensure that the safety of the public and national heritage is the top priority in any situation, thoroughly preparing for large-scale performances and increased visitors," Commissioner Heo Min said, according to the Korea Heritage Service.
BTS will release their fifth studio album "ARIRANG" on March 20 and hold a comeback celebration live concert at Gwanghwamun Square on the evening of March 21. Police estimate up to 260,000 people may attend the concert.
The National Museum of Korean Contemporary History, an affiliate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism located adjacent to Gwanghwamun Square, also announced it will close on March 21. Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, operated by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is canceling or rescheduling planned performances including musicals, plays, and ballet.