Foreign envoys discover Sejong's appeal beyond Korea's administrative capital

By Lee Hae-rin

• Published Oct 8, 2026 4:28 PM KST

Rooftop greenery and traditional markets reveal quieter charms of planned city

SEJONG — For those accustomed to Seoul’s density, Sejong, the nation's administrative capital approximately 130 kilometers south of Seoul, offers an unfamiliar Korean cityscape: cyclists follow streams to work and visitors from across the country stroll through the giant rooftop garden atop Government Complex Sejong or along wide boulevards with no utility poles or curbside parking.

Founded in 2012 as Korea’s administrative city, Sejong has grown into a community of roughly 400,000 residents, shaped in large part by the civil servants and their families who moved south as ministries were relocated from Seoul.

Thirteen officials from 12 foreign missions in Korea joined a two-day tour of Sejong on Sept. 29 and 30, arranged by the Sejong Culture and Tourism Foundation to introduce the planned city’s tourism assets.

Kenyan Ambassador Emmy Kipsoi, one of the participants, said the visit exceeded her expectations of the city as a strictly functional government hub.

“Before the visit, I knew Sejong mainly as Korea’s administrative capital, the home of government ministries and a city of policy and public administration,” Kipsoi told The Korea Times. “What I found was a city designed with people and nature at its center.”

The city’s generous green spaces, including waterfront and cycling paths, showed her that a planned capital could be “efficient in purpose but humane in character.”

Presidential Archives

At the Presidential Archives, participants followed Korea’s democratic history through the records of its former presidents.

The exhibition, which currently covers presidential terms through the 2017-22 administration of Moon Jae-in, brings together documents, photographs, videos and objects once used by presidents. The building also houses recreated spaces from the presidential compound of Cheong Wa Dae, including the president’s office and Chunchugwan press center.

From the exhibition hall, visitors can also look out over the construction site of the future presidential office and National Assembly complex. President Lee Jae Myung is pushing to relocate the presidential office and National Assembly to Sejong by 2030.

The exhibition also features artificial intelligence-rendered videos of the former leaders, text-art portraits composed of words from presidential speeches, nine former presidential vehicles and diplomatic gifts presented by foreign leaders.

Several participants were delighted to recognize items from their own countries. Kipsoi spotted a necklace and matching earrings gifted by Kenya’s second president, Daniel arap Moi, to then-President Chun Doo-hwan in 1982.

“It was a deeply moving moment,” she said, calling the preserved gift a reminder that current Korea-Kenya ties rest on “foundations laid by earlier generations of leaders.”

An Angolan Embassy official found the use of interactive digital technology to illustrate Korea’s democratic history “very impressive.”

Sejong National Arboretum

At the Sejong National Arboretum, the tour had a slower encounter with the city's green heart.

As Korea’s first urban national arboretum, it covers 650,000 square meters, containing more than 4,367 plant species and about 2.5 million individual plants. It has more than 20 themed gardens that bring together Korean traditional and royal garden design and everyday horticulture.

After the arboretum visit, several envoys described Sejong as "serene, spacious and family-friendly," with parks and nature woven into daily life rather than treated as a weekend escape.

“I really appreciated how well the city was planned, making it livable and family-friendly,” an official from the Embassy of the Philippines said. "The wide roads, jogging areas and walking paths surrounding the river and lake were impressive."

Cityscape view from Ieung Bridge

As the sun sets, the group crossed Ieung Bridge, Sejong’s distinctive circular landmark spanning the Geum River, as the city’s skyline sparkles across the water in a cool autumn breeze.

The 1,446-meter structure connects the central green zone on the river’s north side with a waterfront park in the city’s southern districts. Its length is meant as a reference to the year King Sejong promulgated "Hunminjeongeum," the work that introduced the Korean alphabet, while its round form recalls the Hangeul consonant “ieung.”

Kipsoi said the nighttime walk across the bridge captured Sejong’s ability to bring history to mind within a thoroughly contemporary cityscape.

“I was struck by how a piece of modern infrastructure can carry so much history and meaning,” the ambassador said. “It is a bridge that connects not only two banks of a river, but also Korea’s past and its future.”

Several diplomats said Sejong’s broad boulevards, new apartment towers and carefully planned layout reminded them of Songdo, but with a quieter, more residential character.

Many said they could imagine living there with their families, drawn by its sense of safety, space and daily convenience, even as they noted that embassies would still need strong transport links to Seoul and international airports.

For a Costa Rican Embassy official, Sejong's ordered landscape recalled Hangeul itself. “I came back to Seoul with the impression of a very well-organized city that transmits the same feeling of calmness of Korean writing," the official said.

World's largest rooftop garden

Several envoys cited the rooftop garden of Government Complex Sejong as "the most memorable stop" of the tour.

Nearly 3.6 kilometers long, the green corridor links 15 government buildings, breaking from the conventional image of isolated ministry buildings. It was recognized by Guinness World Records in 2016 as the world’s largest rooftop garden and now offers a space for public servants and visitors from across the country to relax and enjoy a panoramic view of the city from up high.

“To walk across the top of the buildings where national policy is shaped, among trees and flowers and open views of the city, says a great deal about how Korea wants its government to relate to its citizens and to the environment,” Kipsoi said.

A Zambian diplomat saw the complex not simply as an architectural attraction but as a model for a country trying to build public infrastructure around people's daily lives.

"This is a typical example of a smart city," the official said, adding that he plans to return with the ambassador as Sejong offers a useful benchmark, particularly on its idea of connectivity, to Zambia's development of its own government complex.

"Clustered government buildings in other Korean cities do not usually provide such an ambience," said an official from the Philippine Embassy, calling the "photogenic view of Sejong City from the rooftop" as the city's "memorable appeal."

Other diplomats also pointed to Sejong's underground waste-collection system, digitalized urban management and interconnected buildings as signs of long-term planning, and said the tour provided practical reference points for countries confronting their own challenges with congestion, regional development and public safety.

Sejong Traditional Market

At Sejong Traditional Market, the tour stepped into a familiar Korean ritual: wandering covered alleys lined with snacks, fresh produce and everyday household goods.

Opened in 1931, the market is part of the old town that predates Sejong’s planned-city development.

The market looked much like traditional markets elsewhere in Korea, but participants found its wider aisles and slower rhythm especially welcoming. Merchants greeted the foreign envoys with cheerful questions about where they came from, offering generous extras and friendly banter that turned a simple purchase into a conversation.

An official from the Tanzanian Embassy said the market and surrounding neighborhood revealed the kind of everyday life that could make Sejong attractive beyond official visits. “I want to come and move to Sejong,” she said, adding that her family also “would love it here.”

The city is also looking beyond leisure travel. It aims to grow into a major destination for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions, leveraging its role as an administrative center.

For foreign institutions considering meetings or events in Sejong, the city is seeking to offer coordination support with local venues, tailored tour programs, multilingual guidance, local dining and cultural experiences.

Sejong is also developing tour programs combining history, cityscapes, nature and local food for international travelers.

Alongside online promotion through travel booking platform Korea Travel Easy, the city is preparing multilingual and QR code menus at designated local restaurants to better welcome overseas visitors ahead of the Chungcheong 2027 FISU World University Games.