Mrs. Kim Hye-kyung Visits Gyeongbokgung Palace's First Outdoor Wedding: "Cultural Heritage Should Become Part of Everyday Life"

[Financial News] Kim Hye-kyung visited the site of the first outdoor wedding held at Gyeongbokgung Palace and congratulated the newlyweds on their new beginning. She also called for easing the burden of marriage on young people and using cultural heritage sites as spaces that people can enjoy more naturally in their everyday lives.
Ahn Gwi-ryeong, a deputy spokesperson for Cheong Wa Dae, said in a written briefing on the 4th that Kim had visited the venue on the afternoon of the 2nd, ahead of the first outdoor wedding held at the Ginkgo Tree Rest Area of the National Palace Museum of Korea inside Gyeongbokgung Palace.
The Korea Heritage Service organized the outdoor wedding to ease the burden on young people preparing for marriage and allow the public to enjoy cultural heritage more closely in their everyday lives. This was the first time the Ginkgo Tree Rest Area of the National Palace Museum of Korea inside Gyeongbokgung Palace had been used as an outdoor wedding venue.
Kim met Mai, a YouTuber from Estonia and the bride at the first wedding, along with her Korean husband, and congratulated them on their new beginning. Through her YouTube channel, Kimchi Ghost Mai, Mai promotes hanbok and Korean traditional culture to audiences overseas.
At the event, Kim also expressed her hope that Korea's cultural heritage would not remain confined to solemn viewing spaces, but instead be used in more familiar and diverse ways as part of people's everyday lives.
Beginning with this event, the Korea Heritage Service plans to provide the Ginkgo Tree Rest Area of the National Palace Museum of Korea inside Gyeongbokgung Palace as an outdoor wedding venue for young couples. This year, it will support weddings for 28 couples, including Mai and her husband, and plans to expand the program to as many as 80 couples next year.
Ahn explained that the event demonstrated the government's commitment to making cultural heritage accessible in people's everyday lives while providing practical support to young people preparing to make a new start.

[email protected] Choi Jong-geun Reporter