Fire breaks out at Royal Palace Museum in Seoul, threatening artefacts

Korea Heritage Service’s Administrator Heo Min (right) directing the precautionary relocation of key artefacts at the National Palace Museum of Korea in Seoul on Jan 23, after a predawn fire at the site. - Yonhap/The Korea Herald/ANN

SEOUL: A small pre-dawn fire at the National Palace Museum of Korea briefly raised alarms over the safety of nearly 90,000 royal artefacts, including eight National Treasures, authorities said.

Smoke was detected around 2.38am local timevon Friday (Jan 23) in a basement mechanical room, according to the Cultural Heritage Administration and local fire officials. A duty officer confirmed the situation via CCTV and alerted firefighters six minutes later.