By Kang Hyun-kyung
The landmark N Seoul Tower on Mt. Namsan will join the “global greening” campaign led by Ireland’s tourism board on Monday, becoming the first Korean location to join a worldwide celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
According to the Embassy of Ireland in Seoul, N Seoul Tower will be one of some 70 global locations illuminated in green lighting on the religious holiday that marks the death of St. Patrick (385-461).
The tower will be green from Monday evening after sunset until midnight, it said.
Other sites joining in with the campaign include the Pyramids in Egypt, the Welcome sign in Las Vegas, the Sydney Opera House, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Niagara Falls.
Last year, the fountain in front of the White House joined the event which was started five years ago by Irish people living all around the world.
Green is associated with St. Patrick’s Day. People started wearing green ribbons or shamrocks to celebrate the day in the 17th century after St. Patrick is said to have used the three-leaved plant to explain the Holy Trinity to the Irish. St. Patrick’s Day became an official Christian feast day in the early 17th century.
The Irish Embassy and Seoul Metropolitan government worked closely together to enable N Seoul Tower to join the campaign along with the other globally-renowned locations.
The embassy said that N Seoul Tower’s joining of the campaign is a reflection of stronger ties between Seoul and Dublin.
There are approximately 1,000 Irish people living in Korea. Nearly 600 of them are English teachers, and about 1,000 Koreans also live in the European country, according to the embassy.