Increasing Visits to Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung Palaces and Free Rental of 'Safety Backpacks' at National Parks

The government has decided to expand palace exploration programs popular among the public, such as the Changdeokgung Moonlight Tour and Gyeongbokgung Starlight Night Tour, starting from April to enhance convenience for citizens. The free rental service for safety backpacks in national parks will also be gradually expanded to cover all national parks by 2026.

On the 2nd, the Ministry of Economy and Finance reported these plans as part of the "Public Institution Service Improvement Plan for Citizens" at an emergency economic ministers' meeting chaired by Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance.

On the 21st, citizens visiting Changdeokgung in Jongno-gu, Seoul, are touring the rear garden area of Nakseonjae. The Cultural Heritage Administration's Palace and Royal Tombs Headquarters is operating a program until the 6th of next month that allows visitors to explore the rear garden area behind Nakseonjae in Changdeokgung, which is usually restricted to the public, to welcome the new spring. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

First, the Changdeokgung Moonlight Tour will increase from 336 to 396 sessions annually, a rise of 60 sessions (17.8%), the Gyeongbokgung Starlight Night Tour from 78 to 86 sessions, and the Deoksugung Night at Seokjojeon from 144 to 210 sessions, an increase of 66 sessions (45.8%). Additionally, to accommodate citizens unfamiliar with online environments who find it difficult to make reservations on a first-come, first-served basis, the lottery system will be expanded from 30 to 40 sessions.

The free rental service for safety backpacks in national parks will be expanded. The safety backpack contains nine items including a smartwatch, backpack, sticks, knee protectors, emergency kit, cushion, guide map, crampons, and hiking boots. Since 2021, this pilot project has been conducted only at Bukhansan National Park.

Starting this year, the free rental service will expand to nine locations including Bukhansan, Seoraksan, Gyeryongsan, Palgongsan, and Mudeungsan. Next year, it will increase to eight locations including Jirisan and Songnisan, and by 2026, it will cover eight more locations such as Naejangsan and Sobaeksan, providing services at all 25 national park offices nationwide.

Reservations for campsites at 44 national parks will also be changed to a lottery system. Previously, campsite users were selected on a first-come, first-served basis, which caused excessive competition and access failures due to simultaneous logins. This will be completely changed to a lottery system regardless of the usage period.

Information on coastal passenger ship operations will be provided one day in advance starting this September to reduce uncertainty for users. The number of Saturday driver’s license test centers will increase from 11 to 15, with four new locations added (Masan, Gangneung, Naju, Jeju). A weekday nighttime (6?8 p.m.) license issuance service will also be offered once a month. The number of driver’s license test centers for persons with disabilities will increase from 13 to 14, and a sign language traffic terminology guide for the hearing impaired will be produced and distributed in March.

It will also become easier to receive employment and industrial accident insurance-related documents on mobile phones. Previously, 10 out of 50 types of employment and industrial accident insurance guidance and notification documents were delivered as mobile electronic documents instead of paper. Starting in August, the mobile notification service will be significantly expanded to cover 24 types. To help low-income vulnerable groups better use the energy vouchers they previously did not use due to lack of awareness, data analysis will be used to proactively identify energy-vulnerable households and provide direct usage guidance via text messages and mail to households that have not used the vouchers.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.