HS City Hall Building Closes a Chapter
By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
The landmark main building of Seoul City Hall was vacated Monday, 82 years after it was founded. Mayor Oh Se-hoon and other city officials have moved into the annex located in Seosomun, a few blocks away from the main building and started official work there on Monday.
The closing came as the city government is building a new, modern building in the site behind the old one, preserving the old stone walled main building as a historical site.
``We'll temporarily shut down the main building of the City Hall, closing its 82 year history,'' Mayor Oh said in a statement. The construction of a new main building is expected to take about three years, he said.
Built in 1926 as a government building under Japanese colonial rule (1910-1945), the main building has since survived the nation's important historical moments including liberalization from Japanese colonial rule, the Korean War (1950-1953) and the era of modernization and industrialization, and has become a symbol of democracy here.
The building has long served as a government building except for 10 months when North Korean soldiers occupied it during the Korean War.
A total of 33 mayors have taken office at the building since inaugural mayor Yi Bum-seung in 1945 until the 33rd mayor Oh Se-hoon.
Registered as a city cultural heritage, the building will go through renovation to reopen as ``Civic Center'' by February 2011 in time for the completion of the new main building. The center will house a library and city promotion center.