Marking 20 years for reappearance of guard replacement ceremony ..guards all around Korea to come together

▲This photo, provided by the Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation, shows the guard replacement ceremony. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

SEOUL, September 30 (Yonhap) -- Guards all around Korea will come together at one spot to mark 20 years of the reappearance of the guard replacement ceremony.

The Royal Palace and Royal Tomb department of the Cultural Heritage Administration and Korea Cultural Heritage Foundation announced on Friday that a gatekeeper appointment ritual special ceremony will be held on October 3, the National Foundation Day, at Heungnyemun Square, Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul.

Sumunjang (guards) refers to officials who guarded each gate of the capital city and palace during the Joseon Dynasty.

The ceremonial for the appointment of the guards is a ceremony that the king visits Heungnyemun to appoint and celebrate, This event is reproduced based on the record of the first implementation of the sumunjang system in the 1st year of King Yejong (1469) in the Annals of the Joseon Dynasty.

According to an old document, it is said that the king appointed the guard by drawing a dot beside the name of the person he trusted the most on the list of the senior officials he was recommended. These guards were at the forefront of the palace escort.

The Sumunjang replacement ceremony, which started in 2022, marks 20 years. It will gather all the guards from all around Korea at the Heungnyemun square, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and will start with getting appointed by the king.

The guards who participated in the ceremony of changing the guards at Deoksugung, which has had the longest history since 1996, and the escorting ceremony of the guards at Donhwamun, at Changdeokgung, the palace most favored by the king of Joseon.

The audience will be able to compare the replacement ceremonies of different regions, from the guard replacement ceremony of the Jejumok-Gwana, which protects Jeju, to the replacement ceremony of the airport guards, taking care of the safety of Incheon International Airport.

The event will also feature performances such as Gain Jeonmokdan, one of the traditional court dances performed to the accompaniment of Hyangak, and Jinju Geommu, a sword dance from the Jinju region.

At 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., an event to experience Gapsa, an elite soldier who protects the king of the Joseon Dynasty, will be held.

Meanwhile, the Royal Palace and Royal Tomb department will hold a guard replacement ceremony at Changdeokgung Palace Donhwamun starting from October 1 until 16.

At 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., a guard ceremony will be held to protect the palace, and at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., a guard ceremony will be held to protect the city gate. The guards will stand at Donhwamun to protect Changdeokgung Palace.

An official from the Royal Palace and Royal Tomb department said, "The Donhwamun Gatekeeper Guard Ceremony is special because you can see the palace escort culture of the late Joseon Dynasty at the time of King Jeongjo," and added, "We will showcase weapons and attractions such as handguns."

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Dowon Kim.)

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