Seoul designs new bilingual guide for Hanoi heritage site
A bilingual guide to Hanoi’s Imperial Citadel of Thang Long / Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government
Visitors to Hanoi’s historic Imperial Citadel of Thang Long can now explore the UNESCO World Heritage Site with a new Korean-Vietnamese guide, created by the Seoul Metropolitan Government using its official city fonts and colors.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Thursday that it will distribute the Korean-Vietnamese guide to mark Hangeul Day on Friday and deepen cultural exchanges with Hanoi.
The project comes as Seoul and Hanoi mark 30 years of their friendship-city relationship, adding a cultural dimension to ties between the two cities.
The guide covers nine major historic sites and nine key artifacts, with a numbered map designed to help visitors follow a clear route through the citadel.
Among the sites highlighted are Hanoi Flag Tower, Doan Mon Gate and an underground bunker, while artifacts in the permanent exhibition are arranged chronologically to illustrate the site’s history.
The Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, built during Vietnam’s Ly dynasty in the 11th century, is one of Hanoi’s major historical and cultural sites and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Seoul said the guide uses elements of its own design identity, including Seoul colors and typefaces, alongside information provided by Hanoi’s Thang Long Heritage Conservation Center.
The primary color is Seoul "dancheong" red, a shade drawn from the traditional decorative colors found on Korean palaces and intended to visually connect the histories of Seoul and Hanoi.
Seoul Namsan typeface is used for titles and Seoul Alrim typeface for body text, with adjustments made to account for Vietnamese diacritical marks and maintain visual balance between the two languages.
Seoul said professional translation and review were conducted with local institutions to ensure that information was accurate and natural in both languages.
The guide is also intended to give Vietnamese visitors interested in Korean language and culture an opportunity to compare Korean and Vietnamese descriptions while exploring the site.
Choi In-kyu, Seoul’s design policy director, said the project offered an opportunity to promote Hangeul and Seoul’s design assets overseas.
"This collaboration with Hanoi is a meaningful opportunity to promote the excellence of Hangeul as well as Seoul's design assets, including our official city colors and fonts, to the world," said Choi. "Building on this momentum, we plan to continually expand our global partnership initiatives to key friendly and sister cities around the globe."
The city said the initiative is its third collaboration with an overseas partner after projects involving museums in Ulaanbaatar and Vientiane.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.