GYEONGJU - Cheomseongdae, the oldest surviving astronomical observatory in Asia, was supposed to shine brighter than ever on Monday night. Instead, its stone walls lit up with error messages like "shutting down" -- a modern-day glitch interrupting an event meant to celebrate centuries of stargazing.
The media facade, launched at 6:30 p.m. during a lighting ceremony attended by Gyeongju Mayor Joo Nak-young and other officials, experienced a malfunction that caused the system to shut down. Around 500 spectators who had gathered to see the highly promoted light show waited in the cold for a second screening, only to see the words "display mode" and other unknown text repeatedly projected onto the structure.
The seven-minute projection mapping video was jointly produced by the Korea Heritage Service and the Gyeongju city government to introduce the history of astronomy and the golden culture of the Silla Dynasty (57 B.C.-A.D. 935) ahead of the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting later this month.
The cylindrical observatory, about 9.17 meters (30 feet) tall and shaped like a bottle, served as the screen for the show, which aimed to make the history of Cheomseongdae and Silla's cultural legacy more accessible to both Korean and international visitors.
But right after the opening presentation, the system stopped working. Some citizens and foreign visitors remained on site after being told the show would be replayed shortly, but the wall of Cheomseongdae continued to show flashing error messages.
Around 8:10 p.m. -- nearly 90 minutes later -- an announcement was made that the show could not resume "due to a mechanical failure in the media art equipment," promising to restore the system "as soon as possible." Disappointed, the crowd dispersed shortly after.
"There were no issues during multiple rehearsals in recent days, but adding microphone equipment for the ceremony may have caused a short circuit due to an electrical overload," said an official from the Korea Heritage Service. "We replaced the wiring immediately, but it seems the equipment itself was damaged."
As of 10 p.m. that night, the system had not been restored, according to the JoongAng Ilbo's on-site confirmation.
A Gyeongju city official in charge of the project said the equipment would be replaced and normal screenings would resume "by Tuesday." The project, which cost nearly 1 billion won ($700,000), including 400 million won in production expenses, was scheduled to be shown five times a day through Nov. 1, when the APEC summit concludes.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KANG HYE-RAN [[email protected]]