New slogan for Seoul City to be announced

By Jhoo Dong-chan

Seoul Metropolitan Government will hold a ceremonial event to announce the city’s new slogan which will replace “Hi Seoul, Soul of Asia” at Seoul Plaza, central Seoul, Wednesday.

A total of 1,000 citizens are expected to participate in an on-the-spot poll to choose from among suggestions, and pop artists including AOA will brighten up the event.

The three final choices are: “I.Seoul.U,” “Seouling” and “Seoulmate.”

Congratulatory messages sent from KakaoTalk, the nation’s top mobile messenger service, will be displayed on the wall at City Hall from Monday to Wednesday.

The authors of the three slogans will make a video presentation and have a Q and A session with citizens.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and city council chairman Park Ley-hark will also participate in the ceremony.

The new city slogan will be selected based on 50 percent of the early voting through Kakaotalk, and 25 percent each of the citizens’ and experts’ on-the-spot poll.

The professional experts group includes 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.

Pop artists including AOA, Bangtan Boys, Red Velvet and Topp Dogg will give performances at the end of the event, starting around 8:35 p.m. and lasting until 10 p.m.

“This Wednesday (Oct. 28) is a very special day for our citizens as Seoul became the nation’s capital for the first time on that day about 600 years ago,” said a Seoul Metropolitan Government official.

“And we would like to thank those 200,000 citizens who voted for the new slogan.”