This bronze dragon was found at the bottom of the pond below Gyeonghoe-ru (慶會樓, Pavilion of Joyful Gatherings), Gyeongbok Palace in November, 1997. Gyeonghoe-ru is a Korean National Treasure No. 224, and was a special venue at the Joseon court where great banquets were held to receive foreign envoys. The pavilion was originally built in small scale over a pond, but it was expanded during the reign of King Taejong, but later burnt down during the Japanese invasion in 1592. Along with the reconstruction of the entire Gyeongbok Palace in 1867, the 4th year of the reign of King Gojong, it was rebuilt into a two-story pavilion at the eastern edge of a rectangular pond. A stone platform surrounding the pavilion was constructed with guard rails which had stone figures of the twelve zodiac animals decorating every corner. 

According to the Complete Plan of Gyeonghoeru Pavilion (Gyeonghoeru-jeondo, 慶會樓全圖), its architectural design adopted the principles of the Yijing (Book of Changes) to provide protection from fire. For the same purpose, two bronze dragons were buried in the northern bed of the pond. This dragon is one of the pair and was found at the bed in front of Hahyang-jeong (荷香亭, Lotus Scent Pavilion), located to the north of the Gyeonghoe-ru, when the pond was drained for cleaning. The dragon is cast of 66.5kg bronze and is 148.6 cm in length. It has an exuberant sense of movement and its scales, fins and hair are elaborately detailed.