'Pokemon Go' visits cause concern at royal palaces

Screen captures from Pokemon Go game show a "Pokestop" near a sea lion statue in Gyeongbok Palace, center, and Gyeongbok Grand Palace, right. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

Concerns are growing over the increasing number of visitors to the royal palaces in Seoul, where the tourist attractions are rumored to have a higher regeneration rate of rare "Pokemon Go" creatures.

After the location-based mobile augmented reality (AR) game was officially launched in Korea on Jan. 24, many people can be seen concentrating on their screens hunting down the Pokemon characters on the streets. Royal palaces, such as Gyeongbok Palace, Deoksu Palace and Changgyeong Palace are no exceptions as many rare creatures, such as Cubone Marowak, Rhyhorn and Electabuzz, are rumored to be available for capture at the ancient sites. A bipedal, humanoid Pokemon Jynx is also said to appear frequently at the Seonjeongneung Royal Tombs.

Another reason for many gamers to visit the ancient palaces is to search for "Pokestops," where a concentrated number of Pokemons are gathered.

Last month's average number of visitors to Gyeongbok Palace per day was 10,709 and the number increased to 14,668 by 37 percent between Jan. 24 to Jan. 31. The average number of tourists in Deoksu Palace rose by 23 percent during the last week of January.

An official at the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) said the Lunar New Year's holiday played a big part in attracting a bigger number of tourists to the palaces. In addition, the one-day free pass to palaces on Jan. 28 also contributed. The number of Pokemon Go gamer visitors to the royal palaces also significantly contributed to the growing number of visitors at the historic tourist sites, the CHA said.

At the same time, concerns are growing about Pokemon Go players at the ancient palaces who may inadvertently cause possible damage to the cultural sites although no big problem has been reported yet. Officials are worried about gamers' safety as they could slip and fall on the icy ground while concentrating on the game.

Positive results are reported due to the rising popularity of Pokemon Go in ancient palaces. Some AR gamers said they started to find the cultural heritage sites interesting while playing the game. Some Pokemon Go players said they never paid attention to the cultural sites until they recently visited the palaces to hunt down the creatures and began exploring the sites out of curiosity.

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