The National Palace Museum of Korea (Director: Kim In Kyu), an affiliate of the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea, has selected "Royal Vehicles” as its "Curator’s Choice from the Royal Treasures” for the month of May. In addition to being displayed in the museum, they will be presented online in a YouTube broadcast on the channels of the Cultural Heritage Administration and the National Palace Museum of Korea starting May 1.
* National Palace Museum of Korea YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/gogungmuseum
** Cultural Heritage Administration YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/chluvu

These royal limousines respectively carried Emperor Sunjong (r. 1907？1910) and his consort Empress Sunjeong (1894？1966). Sunjong’s was manufactured by the American company General Motors and Sunjeong’s was a British product of the Daimler Motor Company. The vehicles suffered considerable damage while in extended storage in the Royal Garage (previously Bincheong Hall) due to natural corrosion and losses of parts. They underwent five years of repair and restoration beginning in 1997 and were brought up to their current state. They were transferred to the National Palace Museum of Korea in 2005 and have been on display ever since. 

Both large limousines are equipped with seven seats and feature a body resembling a wooden horse-drawn carriage, thereby demonstrating the evolution of early automobiles. The exterior was finished using ottchil, a traditional Korean lacquering technique. The doors of the vehicles are decorated with designs of a type of plum blossom(yihwamun) that symbolized the Korean imperial court, and the interior is lined with gold silk with yihwamun patterns to display the dignity of the imperial court.

The limousines are an important source of information about the culture of the Korean imperial court. Moreover, as high-end limousines incorporating the automobile technology available at the time, the vehicles inform on the development of the automobile. In recognition of their importance, the limousines were designated as National Registered Cultural Heritage in 2006.

With the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, visitors to the museum will be allowed without prior reservations and there will be no limits on the number of people. Moreover, visitors will be able to explore the royal vehicles along with enriching commentary complemented by videos and images delivered by a robot docent named Gobuk. Interactive quizzes will also be provided. Those who are unable to visit the gallery in person can still enjoy this month’s Curator’s Choice virtually through a video with Korean and English subtitles available on the museum’s website (gogung.go.kr) and on the YouTube channels of the museum and the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea.