Starting next month, foreigners aged 18 and younger can enter key royal palaces like Gyeongbok and Deoksu free of charge.

The Cultural Heritage Administration’s Royal Palaces and Tombs Center said on Wednesday that revisions to regulations on admission to such sites will be put into effect from April.

Under current regulations, Korean nationals aged 24 and younger and those aged 65 and older are exempt from admission fees when visiting palaces and tombs of the Joseon Dynasty, but the fees apply to foreigners aged between seven and 18.

Once the revised rules are put in place, only foreigners between 19 and 64 years old will have to pay admission fees.

An official of the palaces center said the revisions were made in light of longer stays by foreign nationals and in consideration of changes in social structure and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which defines a “child” as a person below the age of 18.