SOUTH KOREANS PERFORM AT A ROYAL SHRINE RITUAL IN SEOUL, 2000-05-07 (photo)

South Korean attendants dressed in traditional costumes perform during the Chongmyo "cherye", a Royal Shrine Ritual at Chongmyo in central Seoul May 7. The Chongmyo, which was registered as a treasure of the World Cultural Heritage in 1995, is a shrine containing the ancestral tablets of the kings and queens of the Choson Dynasty, and also where religious rites are performed. The Royal Shrine Ritual was performed five times a year during the Choson Dynasty but was discontinued during the Japanese occupation. It is now performed once a year on the first Sunday of May. LJW/PB