Seoul: A fire broke out at Gyeongbok Palace early Saturday, partially damaging a wooden gate and pillar at the royal palace. It was extinguished in about 15 minutes, the state heritage agency reported. No casualties were noted.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the fire ignited near Sambimun, the outer gate leading to Jaseondang Hall at Gyeongbok Palace, in central Seoul at approximately 5:35 a.m. A safety guard on patrol managed to put out the flames by around 5:50 a.m. The Korea Heritage Service (KHS) later conducted an on-site inspection, identifying spontaneous combustion as a potential cause of the blaze.

No signs of personnel or inflammable materials were found at the site. Huh Min, the administrator of KHS, shared on X, formerly known as Twitter, that an investigation to determine the exact cause of the fire is underway. Huh also promised to maintain an around-the-clock disaster center to prevent similar incidents during the dry season.

Gyeongbok Palace is the largest of Seoul's royal complexes, attracting around 6.9 million visitors last year. This figure represented 38.7 percent of all visitors to royal palaces and tombs.