A couple on Dec. 23, 2025, poses for a selfie at Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul's Jongno-gu District. (Lee Jeongwoo)

By Yoo Yeon Gyeong

The number of visitors last year to Seoul's four major royal palaces, royal tombs of the Joseon Dynasty and Jongmyo Shrine exceeded 17 million for the first time.

The Royal Palaces and Tombs Center under the Korea Heritage Service on Jan. 5 reported a final 2025 tally of 17,814,848, up 12.9% from the previous record of 15,780,129 in 2024.

The most visited palace was Gyeongbokgung with 6,886,650 visitors, followed by Deoksugung (3,561,882), Changdeokgung (2,219,247) and Changgyeonggung (1,602,202). The number of visitors to the royal tombs reached 2,783,245.

The palaces, tombs and Jongmyo also attracted a combined 4,269,278 foreign visitors, up 34.4% from 3,177,150 in 2024, accounting for a fourth of the figure.

The National Folk Museum of Korea within Gyeongbokgung saw a record-high visitor count of 2,286,215, up 58.3%. Tourists from abroad comprised 59.2% or 1,354,066 of the figure, the most among domestic national museums.

dusrud21@korea.kr