The Joseon Dynasty: Seoul's Five Palaces, Jongmyo and UNESCO Sites

At a glance

• 📜1392–1910: 518 years, 27 kings

  It follows Goryeo and ends as the Korean Empire. Post-1897 still counts as Joseon.

• 🏯The capital moved to Hanyang in 1394

  The city was laid out around Gyeongbokgung as the primary palace.

• 🌿Changdeokgung's 270 years

  First palace rebuilt after the 1592 war, and the one actually used until 1867.

• 🔤Hangul: created 1443, published 1446

  The Haeryebon manuscript joined UNESCO's Memory of the World in 1997.

1392 to 1910 — 518 years, with 27 kings in between.

One point causes confusion. In 1897 the 26th king, Gojong, renamed the state "Daehan" and took the title of emperor. The period after that is called the Korean Empire. The state's name and the ruler's title both changed; the ruling house did not, and the period is normally counted as Joseon's final phase. The encyclopedia treats the changing names — briefly Goryeo at the very start, then Joseon, then Daehanguk at the end — as three names for one dynasty.

So a palace board showing a date after 1897 is not describing a different country. It is also why Deoksugung has a Western-style stone hall standing inside a Joseon palace.

The end came in 1910, with annexation by Japan.

Seoul's five palaces — Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Gyeonghuigung — were not built as a set. They had different jobs.

Gyeongbokgung was the primary palace, the centre of the new capital laid out from 1394. Changdeokgung was founded in 1405 as its secondary palace — an additional residence, not the seat of government.

Then the order reversed. The 1592 Japanese invasion burned the palaces down, and in 1610 Changdeokgung was the first of them to be rebuilt. Gyeongbokgung was not reconstructed until 1867. For the roughly 270 years in between, successive kings used Changdeokgung more than anywhere else, and it served as the de facto primary palace.

That single fact changes the visit. Gyeongbokgung is the palace of scale and ceremony; Changdeokgung is the palace kings actually lived in for centuries. Because it was set into the existing terrain rather than imposed on it, it is regarded as the most distinctly Korean of the palaces, and it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.

If you only have time for one palace, that is the distinction to choose on.

King Sejong created the 28 letters in 1443, setting out the framework of Hunminjeongeum, then spent three more years refining it with the scholars of the Hall of Worthies before publishing the Hunminjeongeum (the Haeryebon) in the ninth month of 1446. That is why the creation year and the promulgation year differ.

The Haeryebon explains the purpose of the new script, the sound value of each letter and how to combine them, with commentary and examples. It is held at the Kansong Art Museum, is a designated National Treasure, and was inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register in 1997.

If you come across a Hangul exhibition at a palace, those are the two dates: 1443 made, 1446 published.

A large share of Joseon's heritage is UNESCO-listed. The inscription years make it easier to plan a route:

• Jongmyo Shrine (1995) — the shrine housing the memorial tablets of kings and queens. If a palace is a space for the living, this is a space for ritual.
• Changdeokgung (1997) — the palace above. Its rear garden is a separate, ticketed visit.
• Hwaseong Fortress, Suwon (1997) — the walled city built by King Jeongjo.
• Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty (2009) — scattered across the Seoul metropolitan area.
• Hahoe and Yangdong (2010) — Joseon clan villages.

For a half day in Seoul, Gyeongbokgung → Jongmyo or Changdeokgung → Jongmyo flows naturally. Seeing a palace and the shrine together is what makes the priorities of the dynasty legible.

To follow this dynasty further, continue with the founding of Joseon, the move to Hanyang, King Sejong, the creation of Hangul, the Imjin War, Gyeongbokgung and the Korean Empire. What came before and after is in Goryeo and a brief history of Korea.

Gyeongbokgung opening hours

Source: Royal Palaces and Tombs Centre — opening hours · Aug 4, 2026

Changdeokgung opening hours

The rear garden (Huwon) is separate timed-entry admission, capped at 100 people per slot per language — 50 online and 50 on the door — so it is not covered by these hours.

Source: Royal Palaces and Tombs Centre — visiting hours · Aug 7, 2026

Jongmyo opening hours

Closed Tuesdays — the same day as Gyeongbokgung, not the Monday the other palaces keep. The hours above are the self-guided days: Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays and Culture Day, the last Wednesday of each month. Self-guided translates 자유관람 and means unescorted, not free of charge — the ordinary admission fee applies on every open day. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays the shrine is normally open only by timed guided tour, which departs at fixed times and takes about an hour. One dated exception is in force: because of extreme heat, self-guided entry is also being allowed on timed-tour days through July and August 2026, so recheck the format for September onward.

Source: Royal Palaces and Tombs Centre — visiting hours · Aug 7, 2026

See these together

• 

  Gyeongbokgung Palace

  The primary palace. This is the Joseon of scale and ceremony.

• 

  Changdeokgung Palace

  The palace actually used for some 270 years after the 1592 war. The rear garden needs a separate booking.

• 

  Jongmyo Shrine

  The shrine of the royal memorial tablets. Paired with a palace, the picture completes itself.

Frequently asked questions