Rent A Room In A Korean Palace To Impress Foreign Business Clients?

No it wasn't an April's Fool prank. The JoongAng Daily reported one day earlier ( 30th March)  that the Cultural Heritage Administration was planning to rent out space in a World Heritage Site to private companies or government bodies for meetings, conferences or lectures. Frankly, I'm shaking my head in bafflement. Is it really necessary to exploit Seonhyangjae, a room in Changdeokgung, formerly used as a study during the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) for commercial  benefit?

The price tag for the privilege of brainstorming marketing strategies on palace grounds? "360,000 won ($317) for one hour, plus an additional 100,000 won in maintenance and service fees"  including ondol heating.

According to Choi Shin-young, an official with the CHA ( as reported in the JoongAng Daily), “If we receive positive feedback from users, we plan to expand the program to include other palaces, too. Wooden structures tend to be better maintained when they are frequented by people, although we will need to be extremely cautious.”  Indeed - remember what happened to Sungnyemun or Namdaemun  in January 2008?

( Caption from JoongAng Daily) "A group of employees from a local firm meet at Seonghyangjae, a room in Changdeok Palace, on March 12. The room will be available to the general public for rent under a pilot program that runs from April 6 to 10."

sources:

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264348

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2918471