I heard that The Kingdom of the Winds 30th anniversary exhibition, 《The Wind of Thirty, Carrying On Tradition》, was being held at Gyejodang Hall in Gyeongbokgung Palace. I used to play so earnestly on The Kingdom of the Winds Yeon server when I was in elementary school, and now, somehow, I am getting close to my late thirties, so it left me with such a strange feeling. As soon as Saturday arrived, I went. Because The Kingdom of the Winds always brings my childhood memories with it, because I wanted to satisfy my own weakness for museum goods, and because the cool autumn weather made me want to slip away for a little outing.

Getting to Gyejodang Hall in Gyeongbokgung Palace is not difficult. If you are taking the subway, you can get off at Gyeongbokgung Station Exit 5 or Gwanghwamun Station Exit 2 and walk from there. I went by bus, though. I entered through the gate to the right of the Cheong Wa Dae meeting place. I trusted the walking route on Naver Map and went in, only to find every path blocked. You absolutely need to buy a Gyeongbokgung ticket first, then show it and enter through the inside of Hongnyemun Gate. I hope you do not end up wandering around like I did.



 The ticket booth is easy to spot at a glance. Honestly, there are so many people around that if you just follow the crowd, you will probably be right more than half the time. The ticket price was 3,000 won per adult. If you are wearing hanbok, you can enter for free. It brought back memories of coming here about ten years ago with friends, all of us dressed in matching hanbok to take photos, back when we were younger. Seeing so many people out enjoying the day in hanbok was such a pleasure in itself.

 There were plenty of kiosks too, so the lines were not very long. I went in at around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 12. By the time I came back out, it was a little past 3 p.m., and by then there were really a lot of people waiting to enter, so the line had gotten long. I hope that helps as a time reference. As soon as you enter through Heungnyemun Gate, Gyejodang Hall is off to the right on a diagonal. You can cross the bridge and head right, or turn right right after entering and go that way instead—whichever feels easier.

 To be honest, I could not find any signposts for The Kingdom of the Winds exhibition on the way to Gyeongbokgung Palace itself. But once you enter Gyeongbokgung and get to the path leading toward Gyejodang Hall, you will start to see The Kingdom of the Winds banners. That banner has a QR code for the web brochure. Actually, it is not just that one—there are QR codes here and there. I was curious, so I scanned one as soon as I got there.

 There you can find a poster with the exhibition title 《The Wind of Thirty, Carrying On Tradition》, along with its dates and location, and the story presented in the web brochure as well. Once you open the web page and look around, there is also a mission. If you complete it, you can receive a gift too, so I really recommend doing it alongside the exhibition. It is more fun than just looking around, quietly so, and somehow it makes you pay a little closer attention too.

 Let us step into Gyejodang Hall. It is said that Gyejodang Hall was the place where the crown prince discussed state affairs with his officials.

 When you walk in, there is a photo zone on the left, and on the right is the work that serves as the centerpiece of the first mission. Each piece has a QR code so you can check its brochure entry, and behind that work there was a booth handing out brochures, which made it nice to read the explanations while taking everything in. Across from the photo zone was Walsook’s General Store, and across from the works below they were handing out brochures.

 To the left of the brochure booth, there was a The Kingdom of the Winds display. It included the story held within The Kingdom of the Winds, the phrase I remember most fondly—“Scatter the squirrels”—and information about this exhibition. With the music playing the whole time, it somehow really did feel as if I had stepped into a tavern, or as if I were wandering around Guknaeseong again.

 If you want to follow the mission order exactly, you can come out through the right door and then through the left, but since you have to take off your shoes before going in, it does not really matter much. You can simply head inside and look around in whichever direction feels easiest. Many tourists in hanbok were constantly taking photos.



Inside Gyejodang Hall, there are all kinds of exhibits. If you are working through the mission, admiring the displayed pieces, and wandering around the interior, time really does fly. I especially loved Yongjeonseolmansangdo by artists Ahn Yoojin and Lee Dongmin. But it was not just me, because I had to wait quite a while to take a photo in front of it. So many people were taking their “best shot of their life” there. I slipped in and got one too. Along with Kim Heeseon’s 옷깃에 담은 바람, expressed through four colors and characters, the dragon drawn in its representative colors looked so striking. It felt like it could chase away every evil spirit. I also stood for a long time looking at the 귀주머니 imbued with the wishes of squirrel and rabbit by artist Ahn Eunjung. The detail in it was honestly just... so beautiful. I already love browsing museum goods at the National Museum of Korea, so being able to see works like these was genuinely exciting for me.

When you log into The Kingdom of the Winds, you choose one of Cheongnyong, Baekho, Jujak, or Hyeonmu. I always chose Jujak, so the red tones caught my eye even more. There was something fun about comparing that side of The Kingdom of the Winds with the artists’ work like this. And seeing the game’s iconic monsters(?) rabbit and squirrel embroidered into the pieces was such a lovely surprise too.



 After I had fully taken in the exhibition, finished the mission, and collected the reward, I went back to look at the goods again. Honestly, they were so pretty I just hovered there for quite a while. When you complete the mission, they give you not only an in-game coupon but also an idus discount coupon. They say you can get a 4,000 won discount every month, so after I finish writing this post, I think I will go register it.

 They are only being sold from September 9 to December 31. You can see the actual items in person at Walsook’s General Store, and every single one was so lovely that looking at the numbers in my bank account made me feel a little troubled. ^.^...



They are even more dangerous in person—the kind of goods that make your eyes spin even more once you see the real thing. I will leave the link right below. Sniff, they are just too pretty.



A portion of the proceeds

will be paid to the participating artists

to support their continued creative work.

So buying something as a small show of support would be lovely too.

Go browse idus

 They say that if you upload a photo on Instagram, you can be entered into a drawing for a mother-of-pearl passport wallet, but I was too shy, so I took mine with only my hand showing. If you are braver than I am, please do give it a try. That passport wallet is truly beautiful.



After looking around at everything, I came back out of Gyeongbokgung Palace and found it absolutely packed with people. If you look toward Geunjeongjeon Hall, the mountains and our palace standing tall together are a magnificent sight, and if you turn the other way, you can see Gwanghwamun framed by the high-rise buildings. The harmony of mountains, modern buildings, and palace architecture struck me once again in a way that really lingered. Thanks to this exhibition, I felt lucky to have a reason to visit Gyeongbokgung again after so long.



The The Kingdom of the Winds exhibition at Gyejodang Hall in Gyeongbokgung Palace was created to mark The Kingdom of the Winds’ 30th anniversary through a collaboration between 바람의나라, Nexon Foundation BORDERLESS, and the Korea National University of Cultural Heritage. It is described as a social contribution project in which BORDERLESS provides The Kingdom of the Winds IP as creative inspiration and supports opportunities for emerging traditional craft artists to create and share their work.

Now that the weather has turned cool and it is exactly the kind of season that makes you want to go somewhere, this chance to see both Gyeongbokgung Palace and The Kingdom of the Winds exhibition—either for free if you wear hanbok, or for 3,000 won per adult—is hard to pass up. If you have ever played The Kingdom of the Winds, if you are planning an outing with your child, or if you want to take memorable photos with your partner or your friends, why not visit the The Kingdom of the Winds exhibition at Gyeongbokgung and Gyejodang Hall? I really think it is one of those rare chances where you get everything at once: the subtle scenery created by our palace, the mountains, and the tall buildings, the sense of history, and an exhibition that is simply such a feast for the eyes. I went with a friend, and I had such a lovely time. I hope anyone reading this will too.

For detailed notices and more information, please check the link below!

Check the commemorative exhibition notice