Seoul Plaza is a central plaza located in front of

Seoul City Hall Seoul City Hall is a governmental building for the Seoul Metropolitan Government in South Korea, in charge of the administrative affairs of Seoul. It is located in Taepyeongno, Jung-gu, at the heart of Seoul. It is connected to City Hall Station ...

Taepyeongno Taepyeongno is a major thoroughfare in the central districts of Seoul, South Korea and the second longest road next to Sejongno in the Gangbuk area. With a 1.1 km length and a 50 m width, Taepyeongno originates at 139 Sejongno in Jongno-gu and ter ...

, Jung-gu in

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. It was reopened on 1 May 2004, by

Seoul Metropolitan Government The Seoul Metropolitan Government is a local government of Seoul, South Korea. The mayor is elected to a four-year term by the citizens of Seoul and is responsible for the administration of the city government. The Seoul Metropolitan Government d ...

, with the purpose of providing the public an open space. It is part of the City's plans for environmentally friendly renovation projects such as the

Cheonggye Stream Cheonggyecheon (Hangul: 청계천, ) is a modern public recreation space in downtown Seoul, South Korea. The massive urban renewal project is on the site of a stream that flowed before the rapid post-war economic development caused it to be co ...

and

Gwanghwamun Plaza Gwanghwamun Plaza (, also known as Gwanghwamun Square) is a public open space on Sejongno, Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. The plaza was opened on 1 August 2009 by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and is part of the City's plans for environmenta ...

Description

The site was originally a traffic square with a 40-year-old fountain that was demolished and the nearby space was renovated. Seoul Plaza is elliptical in shape, covering 3,995

pyeong A ''pyeong'' (abbreviationpy) is a Korean unit of area and floorspace, equal to a square '' kan'' or 36square Korean feet. The ''ping'' and ''tsubo'' are its equivalent Taiwanese and Japanese units, similarly based on a square '' bu'' ( ja:� ...

(13,207 m²) in total and 1,904 pyeong (6,294 m²) for grass area. An underground water tank was installed along with 48 lighting around the grass square. The underground tank stores rain water for use in the sprinklers on the lawn. The plaza has been the site of protests against

US beef imports in South Korea The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

, and

Korea Queer Culture Festival Seoul Queer Culture Festival (SQCF, ko, 서울퀴어문화축제), formerly Korea Queer Culture Festival (KQCF, ko, 한국퀴어문화축제), is an annual modern Korean festival, whose theme is LGBT rights. It includes a pride parade and fil ...

. The plaza was also the Starting Line of ''

The Amazing Race Australia 4 ''The Amazing Race Australia 4'' is the fourth season of the Australian reality television game show ''The Amazing Race Australia'', an Australian spin-off of the American series '' The Amazing Race''. The season featured eleven teams of two in a ...

''.

Administration

As of 1 June 2011, the Plaza along with

are designated as smoke-free zones by the Seoul Metropolitan Government. Smokers are fined in violation. Every winter since 2004, the Plaza has hosted an open air ice-rink from mid-December to February the following year, following which are replaced with green lawn and the fountain operational again.

References

Jung District, Seoul Squares in Seoul 2004 establishments in South Korea {{Seoul-geo-stub

Description

Administration

See also

References