Category: Seoul

It will be interesting to see if this statue does become an iconic symbol for Gangnam:

The signature horse-riding dance move by South Korean rap sensation Psy will be made into a landmark in front of a large shopping complex in southern Seoul, the local district office said Friday.

The sculpture will consist of two fists positioned in the wrist movement of the dance routine from the 2012 music video for the hit “Gangnam Style,” according to the Gangnam District Office. From above, it will look like two hands wrapping around the Earth.

The office plans to place the sculpture near the COEX shopping and exhibition center before the end of the year, aiming to build a landmark symbolic of the area, such as London’s Piccadilly Circus and Chicago’s Cloud Gate.

It will be designed by Hwang Man-seok, an artist belonging to the Visual Information Design Association of Korea.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link.

Cattle and farming equipment are paraded on downtown Seoul streets on Oct. 28, 2015, ahead of Farmers’ Day on Nov. 11. The parade is also a ritual to wish for the advancement of the agricultural industry. (Yonhap)

I guess a slogan making sense in English was not high on the priority list for Seoul’s new slogan to market the city with:

“I.Seoul.You” has been selected as the capital city’s new slogan.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced Wednesday that “I.Seoul.You” beat the two other candidates ― “Seoulmate” and “SEOULing” ― to replace its current slogan “Hi Seoul.”

“Seoulmate” won slightly more votes than “I.Seoul.You” in an online poll. However, in an on-the-spot poll held in the evening at Seoul Plaza, all nine experts and 682 out of a total 1,140 citizens voted for “I.Seoul.You,” which beat “Seoulmate” with only 232 votes.

Lee Ha-rin, a Korean student who studies philosophy in college, is the winner of the slogan contest, in which more than 16,000 people participated.

Prof. Kim Yoo-kyung of Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, marketing company Playground CEO Kim Hong-tak and Prof. Seo Kyung-duk of Sungshin Women’s University were among the experts.

“It was very meaningful that Seoul citizens participated in the whole process from making to selecting the new slogan,” Seo said.

Kim Min-ki, who was in charge of the project, said that the new slogan will be used to rebrand the city globally.  [Korea Times]

You can read the rest at the link, but many critics have already weighed in on how non-sensical this slogan is. Maybe the Seoul government thinks English gibberish will market well in China to get tourists from there?

For an English slogan for a city this has to be the worst I have heard.  Can anyone think of any city with a worse slogan?

A boy wearing a taekwondo uniform poses for a photo in front of a 13-meter figure of “Robot Taekwon V,” a robot from a popular animation of the same title, during a ceremony in Seoul on Oct. 14, 2015, for the opening of the robot animation-themed museum. “Robot Taekwon V,” the nation’s first science fiction-themed animation released in 1976, was very popular among teens and children. (Yonhap)

Check out the Seoul bamdookaebi Night Market if you are near Yeouido in the nearby future. https://t.co/bJsEOZpiz9 pic.twitter.com/gQ1kf1QghI

— Hiexpat Korea (@HiExpat) October 8, 2015

I can understand Changdeok Palace and touring the DMZ making this Top 500 list, but Seoul Tower?  I was completely underwhelmed when visiting Seoul Tower, especially considering the cost:

Korea’s Changdeok Palace, the demilitarized zone and the N Seoul Tower have made it among the world’s top 500 places chosen by Lonely Planet, the world’s largest travel guide.

Lonely Planet rated the sights based on evaluations by its own guidebook writers and reader preferences. They were included in the Ultimate Travelist 2015, which can be ordered online.  [Chosun Ilbo]

You can read the rest at the link, but did anyone enjoy their visit to Seoul Tower?

The subway doors were once considered a good idea to reduce the deaths of people falling in front of oncoming trains, but now have become a safety liability after a subway workers was killed by the doors last month:

The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to replace platform doors at subways with retractable doors.

The city government said Monday that it will replace doors at three subway stations by the end of the year.

The doors have been criticized for making evacuations during emergencies difficult as some are installed between billboards that cannot be moved.

All platform doors at stations on Line 9 can be opened, but 25 percent of the doors on Lines 1 through 8 are stationary.

Seoul plans to replace all platform doors down the road, but is in consultations with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport about receiving government grants as the replacement is expected to cost over 50 billion won.  [KBS World Radio]

Any ROK Heads in Seoul interested in serving on this council that the Seoul government is trying to establish?:

Seoul Metropolitan Government said Monday it would begin accepting applications from foreign residents of the capital to create a representative body for consultations. The body will be made up of 45 people and will advise the local government on policies to meet the needs of foreign residents and interracial families.

“Migrant workers, foreign students, foreign spouses, adoptees or refugees can apply for the positions,” a city official said.

The representatives will serve a three-year term and collect foreign residents’ opinions on issues such as human rights, cultural diversity and the living environment.

Those wanting to become the members should be over 18 years old, have stayed in Korea for more than a year and in Seoul for more than 90 days, and be recommended by at least 10 other foreign residents. [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Cho Hee-yeon, superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, leaves the Seoul High Court on Sept. 4, 2015, after the appeals court convicted him of running a smear campaign during last year’s election but suspended his sentence. If the Supreme Court confirms the ruling, Cho will be able to keep his job. A lower court in April fined Cho 5 million won (US$4,600) for spreading false rumors about his rival, Koh Seung-duk, during the election campaign. (Yonhap)

Some how I don’t think this issue is going to make it very high up on President Park’s priority list:

A famous gay sauna in Seoul has banned old, unattractive foreigners, according to a source who was refused entry.

Black is a gay bathhouse in Shinnonhyeon, Seoul that made the headlines in 2012 when the owner was arrested for allowing gays to have sexual intercourse in his public bathhouse.

About 20 people were engaging in a sexual act when the police burst into the sauna according to media reports.

The business still thrives today as people consider it to be a “hot place” but people are also being turned down because they are too old, too fat or from an ethnic minority.

“When trying to visit there I was rejected saying that this place was only for KOREAN PEOPLE,” the source said on the Consumer Complaints Forum of The Korea Observer.

“Clearly foreigners for them means white people and not Asian because I saw a Chinese guy going inside which is a clear discrimination based on race. I was very offended by this policy.”

He said it was very disappointing to see “an already discriminated minority such as being gay goes on to discriminate against another minority such as being a foreigner.”  [Korea Observer]

You can read the rest at the link, but the bathhouse says it only discriminates against unattractive foreigners who are fat or old.  For those that are wondering this is actually perfectly legal in Korea because there are no laws that forbid discrimination by business owners based on race in Korea.