By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
Seoul City Metropolitan Government started to re-sod Seoul Plaza, Monday, following the devastation the grass had suffered after a series of candlelit protests against U.S. beef imports.
The city government dispatched some 30 workers from its greens department to remove damaged areas of the plaza after setting up a restriction zone around it.
``Since the candlelit protests have continued for over a month with tens of thousands walking on the plaza every day, about half of the lawn has died or been damaged severely,'' a city official said.
After completing the removal of dead or damaged areas by the middle of next week, the city official said they will re-turf the plaza.
About 6,000 square meters of lawn in the 13,000 square meter plaza has been destroyed, and it is expected to cost about 60 million won ($57,500) to repair, the official said.
The city government plans to keep citizens off the lawn for 20 days until the new grass can grow strong.
The city government spent 60 million won in purchasing grass last year but expects to spend more than 100 million won this year as the most of the grassed-over area has died.