South Korea offers free palace tours and up to 25% duty-free discounts for tourists

South Korea’s second nationwide shopping festival, the Korea Grand Festival, runs from Oct. 29 through Nov. 15 and unites roughly 40,000 firms in a coordinated push to attract foreign spend. Visitors from abroad can tour the four principal Joseon-era palaces—Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Deoksugung and Changgyeonggung—plus Jongmyo Shrine and the royal tombs at no cost. Cultural merchandise in K-Heritage stores at these sites is marked down by 10 percent, and the National Orchestra of Korea will perform a free concert on Nov. 14 at the National Theater of Korea.

Across the country, 25 duty-free retailers such as Lotte, Shilla and Shinsegae will slash prices on liquor and cosmetics by up to 25 percent, while additional discounts of up to 35 percent apply to tours, activities and department-store purchases. The government also plans a welcome week at major airports and seaports offering multilingual information, reduced Wi-Fi and eSIM rates, and a small fare cut on the airport express train, aiming to spread tourists beyond Seoul.