Gatekeeper Patrol (수문장 순라의식) - panoramio - 골뱅이 (1)

Statue of King Sejong is located at the

Sejongno Sejongno (), also known as Sejong-daero, is a street that runs through Jongno-gu in downtown Seoul. It is named after King Sejong the Great of Joseon. The street is 600 meters in length, but due to its central location it is of great symbolic ...

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 ...

in central

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 of ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

. It is dedicated to the 15th century Korean monarch, Sejong the Great, the fourth king of Joseon dynasty and one of Korea's most famous historical figures. The statue is considered one of Seoul's major landmarks. Unveiled in 2009, it has been called "South Korea's most iconic statue." The statue was constructed as part of the creation of new public space in central Seoul, the

, located next to the Gyeongbokgung Palace complex. The statue of King Sejong was designed by Kim Yeong-won, a carving and modeling professor at

Hongik University Hongik University (, colloquially ''Hongdae'') is a private university in Seoul, South Korea. Founded by an activist in 1946, the university is located in Mapo-gu district of central Seoul, South Korea with a second campus(branch campus) in S ...

. Early plans for the Gwanghwamun Plaza included moving the statue of King Sejong from

Deoksugung Deoksugung, also known as Gyeongun-gung, Deoksugung Palace, or Deoksu Palace, is a walled compound of palaces in Seoul that was inhabited by members of Korea's Royal Family during the Joseon monarchy until the annexation of Korea by Japan in ...

palace complex to the Gwanghwamun Plaza. However, after public discussions involving surveys of citizens and experts, it was decided to commission a new statue of King Sejong. Its design was chosen after a competition between a shortlist of artists recommended by the Korean Fine Arts Association and universities. The new statue was designed to be sitting, unlike the nearby older standing statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin. King Sejong statue is located 250 meters from the other large statue on the Gwanghwamun Plaza, the statue of the Admiral Yi Sun-sin. The statue of King Sejong was dedicated on 9 October 2009, in a ceremony attended by attended by President Lee Myung-bak and other Korean government official, on a

Hangul Day The Korean Alphabet Day, known as Hangeul Day () in South Korea, and Chosŏn'gŭl Day () in North Korea, is a national Korean commemorative day marking the invention and proclamation of Hangul (), the Korean alphabet, by the 15th century Korea ...

in celebration of the 563rd anniversary of the invention of the Korean alphabet by King Sejong, two months after the Gwanghwamun Plaza opening. The golden statue is 6.2 meters high (another source gives the statue height as 9.5 meters and yet another, 6.7 meters) and weights 20 tons. The king has one hand raised and the other holding a book. Sides of the statue display all of the

hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The le ...

alphabet characters. In front of the statue there are small models of a

celestial globe Celestial globes show the apparent positions of the stars in the sky. They omit the Sun, Moon, and planets because the positions of these bodies vary relative to those of the stars, but the ecliptic, along which the Sun moves, is indicated. Th ...

, a

rain gauge A rain gauge (also known as udometer, pluvia metior, pluviometer, ombrometer, and hyetometer) is an instrument used by meteorologists and hydrologists to gather and measure the amount of liquid precipitation over a predefined area, over a period o ...

, and a sundial, the invention of which is also traditionally attributed to King Sejong in Korea. While King Sejong is best remembered for his invention of hangul, he is also considered to have been involved in promotion of agriculture, literature, science and technology, as well as

Confucian Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or ...

philosophy, in Korea. Near the statue a 'Sejong's Story' an exhibition hall, a small museum dedicated to King Sejong, can be found.

References

{{Reflist, 30em Jongno District 2009 establishments in South Korea Statues in South Korea Bronze sculptures in South Korea Outdoor sculptures in South Korea Sejong the Great