Nearly 1.4 million visited Blue House since public opening: data

People look around the compound of the former presidential office, the Blue House, in Seoul on May 10, 2022, as the office was made public after the inauguration of President Yoon Suk-yeol. [YONHAP]

Nearly 1.4 million people have visited the former presidential compound of the Blue House since it opened to the public on May 10, data showed Thursday.

A total of 1,396,859 people, including 5,055 foreigners, visited the complex in central Seoul through Wednesday since its public opening, according to data from the Cultural Heritage Administration submitted to Kim Seung-su, a lawmaker of the president's party People Power Party.

The figure is far bigger than the number of visitors to the Gyeongbok and Changdeok palaces of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), some of the most popular tourist attractions in the capital, recorded over the past year.

More than 89 percent of visitors were satisfied with tours of the Blue House, with 87.5 percent willing to recommend the program to other people, according to a poll of 1,000 visitors conducted by the administration from June 22-26.

Kim said the Blue House can become one of the most popular spots for foreign visitors, adding he will work to preserve and create more content related to the complex.

The Blue House had been the presidential office and residence for the past 74 years before Yoon relocated the top office to the former defense ministry building in Yongsan in central Seoul.

Last week, the Culture Ministry announced its plan to transform the Blue House into a multipurpose cultural complex.

Yonhap