With visitors to the National Museum of Korea surpassing 3 million this year, the museum's parking fees are expected to rise again.

According to the cultural sector on the 15th, the National Museum of Korea recently issued an administrative notice of a partial revision to its Parking Lot Management Regulations that includes adjustments to the method for calculating parking fees.

Under the draft, for passenger vehicles with 15 seats or fewer, the base fee will change from 900 won for 30 minutes to 1,000 won for 60 minutes, and an additional 500 won will be charged per 10 minutes.

Assuming a two-hour visit to view an exhibition, the total previously was 3,600 won including the base and additional charges, but going forward it will be 4,000 won.

For buses, the base parking fee will rise from 1,800 won (30-minute basis) to 2,000 won (60-minute basis), and the additional fee will rise from 600 won to 1,000 won per 10 minutes.

The maximum daily charge for parked vehicles will also increase significantly. For passenger cars, the current daily maximum of 18,000 won will rise to 30,000 won. For buses, the daily maximum will rise from 36,000 won to 60,000 won.

The National Museum of Korea already raised parking fees once last September. That increase was the first since the museum opened in Yongsan in 2005.

These steps follow the recent rise in visitor numbers. The museum explained that they are measures to bring the method for calculating and the level of parking fees in line with current conditions.

Inside the National Museum of Korea are small, official-use, and large parking lots, with space for about 900 vehicles. As visitor numbers have grown recently, it now takes considerable time just to enter the parking lots on weekends and holidays.

From January∼May this year, the museum drew a total of 3,255,160 visitors, up 45.2% from the 2,241,592 recorded in the same period last year. Projections suggest that the annual visitor count will again be in the 6 million range this year, following last year's 6,507,483.

The museum plans to review feedback from various sectors through the 25th of this month and then revise the management regulations.