While the number of visitors to historic palaces and royal tombs has surged significantly, a severe shortage of safety management personnel has led to a series of cultural heritage vandalism incidents.

According to data submitted by the National Heritage Administration to the office of Representative Lee Jung-mun of the main opposition Democratic Party—a member of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee—on October 1, the number of visitors to royal palaces and tombs nearly tripled from 6.7 million in 2021 to approximately 17.8 million last year.

In contrast, the number of safety management personnel has remained in the 400s for five years, causing the number of personnel per 10,000 visitors to plummet by more than half, from 0.6 in 2021 to 0.25 last year.

While the Palace and Tomb Headquarters stated that it is difficult to cope with the soaring number of visitors with limited staff and budget, the lawmaker's office pointed out that the decrease in safety personnel and the lack of punitive regulations are leading to loopholes in cultural heritage management.

According to the Gyeongbokgung Palace Management Office, 60% of the holes in the traditional paper windows of major palace halls, such as Geunjeongjeon and Gyotaejeon, are caused by visitors. However, due to the absence of regulations to punish such acts, on-site measures are limited to merely patching the paper with new layers every day.

Amidst a situation where the proportion of foreign visitors increased from 1% in 2021 to 24% in 2025, sanctions against foreigners who damage national heritage are also not being properly enforced.

Tourists who were arrested by police last February on charges of assaulting a Gyeongbokgung Palace security guard left the country the day after police questioning, while a tourist caught urinating near the Gyeongbokgung stone wall last year received only a fine of 50,000 won.

Representative Lee stated, "The number of visitors has entered the era of 20 million, but the personnel and legal systems to protect them remain stalled," adding, "The National Heritage Administration must promptly prepare comprehensive measures containing effective punitive solutions."

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