Seoul City Hall () is a governmental building for the

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 Governmen ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, in charge of the administrative affairs of

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

. It is located in Taepyeongno,

Jung-gu Jung District (), meaning "Central District", is the name of a ''gu'' (district) in several South Korean cities: *Jung District, Busan *Jung District, Daegu * Jung District, Daejeon * Jung District, Incheon *Jung District, Seoul * Jung District, Ul ...

, at the heart of Seoul. It is connected to City Hall Station on

Seoul Subway Line 1 Seoul Subway Line 1 (dubbed ''The Dark Blue Line'') of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway is a rapid transit and commuter rail line which links central Seoul, South Korea to Yeoncheon station, Yeoncheon in the northeast, Incheon in the southwest, an ...

, with access to

Seoul Subway Line 2 Seoul Subway Line 2 (), also known as the Circle Line, is a orbital (metro), circular line of the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. The line running clockwise is called the "inner circle line" and the counter-clockwise line is called the "outer circle ...

from the same station. In front of the current city hall is the old city hall building, now

Seoul Metropolitan Library Seoul Metropolitan Library () is a Public library, Metropolitan Library on Taepyeongno, Jung District, Seoul, South Korea. It faces the Seoul City Hall and Seoul Plaza, and is next to the City Hall Station (Seoul), City Hall Station on Seoul Subw ...

, and

Seoul Plaza Seoul Plaza () is a central plaza located in front of Seoul City Hall at Taepyeongno, Jung District, Seoul, South Korea. It was reopened on 1 May 2004, by Seoul Metropolitan Government, with the purpose of providing the public an open space. It ...

History

The former city hall of Seoul was built in 1925, during the

Japanese occupation of Korea From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...

. It is an example of Imperial Crown Style architecture, and served as city hall from Korea's liberation in 1945, until construction of the modern building in 2008. It now houses the

, in front of the current, modern Seoul City Hall building. Following a competition for a new city hall, the jury awarded the commission to Yoo Kerl of

iArc IARC may refer to: * International Aerial Robotics Competition * International Age Rating Coalition * International Agency for Research on Cancer * International Arctic Research Center * Israel Association of Radio Communication * iArc, South Ko ...

on February 18, 2008. Yoo said, "Major keywords for designing the new building are traditions, citizens, future. I analysed low-rise horizontal elements, curvaceousness, and shades of leaves in our traditional architectural characteristics, and I applied these to the design so I can recall comfortable feelings of old things." In 2012, the new City Hall was opened to the public on 27 August and the city government moved in on 1 September. The project, which took four years and five months to complete, also includes multipurpose halls and cultural facilities for citizens. The old building, registered as a cultural asset, has been converted into a library, and boasts a collection of more than 200,000 books.Seoul City Hall's metamorphosis pleases book lovers
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Public transportation

* City Hall Station (Seoul)

References

External links

Seoul Metropolitan Government
Korean site) Buildings and structures in Seoul Government of Seoul Seats of local government Imperial Crown Style architecture Jung District, Seoul Downtown Seoul Buildings and structures of Korea under Japanese rule {{SouthKorea-struct-stub

History

Public transportation

See also

References

External links