Number of Cheong Wa Dae visitors surpasses Changdeokgung palace visitors of last year

▲ This photo, shows the view of the Cheong Wa Dae official residence on the 22nd. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, June 10 (Yonhap) -- It is estimated that 770,000 people visited Cheong Wa Dae in a month after it has been opened to the public on 10th May.

The Cheong Wa Dae public opening promotion team of the Cultural Heritage Administration announced on the 10th that the cumulative number of visitors to the Blue House until the 9th was 777,242.

This figure is about 130,000 more than the 643,549 annual visitors to Changdeokgung palace last year. In addition, it was 71.6% of the 1,085,188 people that visited Gyeongbokgung Palace last year. This means that the number of people who visited Gyeongbokgung Palace for 8 to 9 months last year visited Cheong Wa Dae in a month.

The main building, where the president watched official duties and met foreign guests, has been visited by 272,968 people since the interior opened on 26th May. The promotion team also estimated that during the same period, a similar number of people visited the official residence, which used to be the residence of the president.

Yeongbin-gwan (state reception house) and Chunchu-gwan (press hall) which allowed people to experience as a spokesman was visited by 204,513 and 101,355 people respectively since the 23rd of last month when it opened.

To prevent safety accidents, the promotion team is also adjusting the flow and maintaining a wooden path. There are also plans to install additional handicapped toilets and benches.

From the 15th of this month, a bus to visit Cheong Wa Dae will be operated every 30 minutes from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. for the elderly over 65, pregnant women, the disabled, and children under the age of 8. It will be departing from the parking lot on the east side of the Gyeongbokgung Palace, and will go through Exit 4 of Gyeongbokgung Station to head to the Yeonmudae of Cheong Wa Dae.

In addition, on the weekend, various events such as a circus, soap bubble performance, and a performance of the winners of the national intangible cultural property will be held at the heliport near the Chunchu-gwan.

The team also decided to reorganize the Cheong Wa Dae reservation website (www.청와대개방.kr) so that foreigners living abroad will also be able to apply their visit to Cheong Wa Dae.

An official from the promotion team said, "We will plan and operate various programs so that the history and culture of Cheong Wa Dae can be fully conveyed to visitors."

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

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