Deoksugung Palace

About Deoksugung Palace

Deoksugung is the palace of the Korean Empire, and the Royal Palaces and Tombs Center's own history of it is unusually blunt about how it became one. The grounds began as the private manor of Grand Prince Wolsan and were pressed into service in 1593 as a temporary court, one year after the invasion of 1592 destroyed every palace in the capital. In 1611 the temporary palace was raised to Gyeongungung and given a court of its own; in 1618 Queen Inmok was imprisoned here and its status was cut to Seogung, the west palace; in 1623 most of its buildings were handed back to their original owners.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

What's inside

The operator's own route through the palace names thirteen structures, and they divide into two families that share one walled enclosure. The Korean group runs from Daehanmun, the gate on Sejong-daero, through Junghwamun to Junghwajeon, the throne hall, and then to the residential and audience halls behind it: Junmyeongdang, Jeukjodang, Seokeodang, Deokhongjeon and Hamnyeongjeon. Jeonggwanheon, a pavilion with a Western colonnade, sits above them on the slope. The imperial group is Seokjojeon and its West Wing, Dondeokjeon and, outside the wall to the north-west, Jungmyeongjeon.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

How long to spend

Allow ninety minutes. The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center publishes no suggested visit length for Deoksugung, so ninety minutes is this guide's judgement and not a figure read off the operator's site. It is built from what the operator does publish. Thirteen named structures sit inside one compact walled enclosure with no long walk between any two of them, which is why this palace suits an afternoon that already has something else in it. Ninety minutes covers Daehanmun, the throne hall and its courtyard, the residential halls behind it, Jeonggwanheon on the slope, and the stone group of Seokjojeon and Dondeokjeon at a pace that allows standing still. Two things stretch that figure.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Season and crowds

Tuesday–Sunday 09:00–21:00; last entry 20:00. Closed Monday. If Monday is a public or substitute holiday, the palace opens and closes on the next non-holiday instead. Seokjojeon, Dondeokjeon and Jungmyeongjeon have shorter hours than the palace grounds. Deoksugung is open 09:00 to 21:00 every month of the year, with last admission at 20:00, and the operator's timetable marks the late opening as standing rather than seasonal. That makes it the exception among the palaces: Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung close between 17:00 and 18:30 depending on the month, while this one holds the same long window in January and in July. The closed day is Monday.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Tickets

General adult admission is KRW 1,000. Admission is free every Wednesday from 5 August 2026. The National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art at Deoksugung requires a separate museum ticket. Admission is 1,000 won for an adult, charged per person, and 800 won per person for a group of ten or more paying visitors. The operator defines an adult narrowly: Korean nationals aged 25 to 64, foreign visitors aged 19 to 64. Outside that band entry is free, which means foreign visitors aged 18 and under or 65 and over pay nothing. The free list is long and worth reading before queuing.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Getting there

Use Seoul Subway Line 1 or Line 2 to City Hall Station and take the elevator at Exit 2. The palace can also be reached from the named Deoksugung Palace bus stop. The entrance address is 99 Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul. This is the named approach for an independent visit. The palace is at 99 Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul, postcode 04519, and the office number is 02-771-9951. The subway does the work. City Hall Station is served by Line 1 and Line 2, and the operator gives Exit 2 as a two-minute walk to Daehanmun, which is about as close as a major Seoul sight gets to a transfer station.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

What to watch out for

Barrier-free main entrance and ticket booth. Sloped paths serve pavilions along the visitor route. Accessible restrooms are beside Seokjojeon Hall and Jeonggwanheon Hall. Three manual wheelchairs are available. Four baby strollers are available beside the Information Center. Services are listed for visitors with visual and auditory impairments. The access description applies to the documented visitor route. The trap at Deoksugung is not the front gate but the halls behind it. The palace admits until 20:00 while its interiors stop admitting between 17:00 and 17:30, and Seokjojeon is not a walk-in at any hour: it is a guided visit on an advance online reservation with the last commentary at 16:30.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Photography

Ordinary souvenir photography needs no application. The visitor regulation classifies it as non-commercial and treats it as already permitted, which is the answer to the question most people arrive with. Three limits sit around that. Photography using non-everyday clothing or props - character costumes, mascot heads, air suits and their equivalents - does require a permit application to the palace office, because the regulation treats it as an obstruction to other visitors and a risk to the historical character of the site. The palace may also restrict photography in specific areas to prevent crowding, so a barrier or a sign overrides the general rule.

Checked 2026-08-31 · Source

Where it is

• 1 hour

  4 min walk

  Seoul Museum of Art

  • Must see · Heritage site
  • Art and culture venue
• 1 hour

  6 min walk

  Ilmin Museum of Art

  • High
  • Art and culture venue
• 45 min

  6 min walk

  Hwangudan

  • High · Heritage site
  • Historic monument

External links

• View on Wikidata