Seoul expands outreach to foreign missions, honorary citizens

Participants in the first networking day for Seoul honorary citizens pose at Seoul Gallery in Jung District, central Seoul, Friday. Courtesy of the Seoul Metropolitan Government

Seoul is intensifying efforts to build its global ties, bringing together foreign envoys and honorary citizens through new outreach events.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Sunday it had hosted foreign mission officials at the Seoul Gallery — a cultural complex beneath Seoul City Hall — for a familiarization tour of the city's policies and urban vision earlier this month. The city also brought together its honorary citizens there for an inaugural gathering last week.

The events are part of a broader push to formalize ties with the city's global contacts through the Seoul Gallery, which opened in February as a showcase for Seoul's policies and urban vision and is set to anchor the city's expanding international network.

Twenty representatives from 13 countries — including Luxembourg, Norway, New Zealand, the Vatican, Bulgaria, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Peru and Guatemala — attended the first of four planned gallery tours for foreign mission staff on March 20.

Three additional sessions are scheduled for April 3, 10 and 17, with 36 countries expected to participate in total, including Germany, Switzerland, Singapore, Indonesia and Canada. The city said it will use participant feedback to refine the gallery's content and position it as a destination for policy study visits by foreign delegations.

In a related move, Seoul held its first honorary citizen networking day at the Seoul Gallery on Friday, bringing together 21 honorary citizens in what the city plans to make a quarterly event aimed at deepening ties and expanding their role in policy advisory and civic promotion work.

Since 1958, Seoul has honored 968 individuals from 100 countries with honorary citizenship in recognition of their contributions to the city and its residents, or their role in bridging Seoul with the world.

“It was wonderful to meet honorary citizens of so many different nationalities and fields,” said Anna Elisabeth Rihlmann, a 35-year-old German who attended as a 2025 honorary citizen. “I was able to feel a deep sense of belonging and solidarity, not as a foreigner, but as a citizen of Seoul.”

“Seoul is home to a wealth of human talent from around the world,” said Kim Mi-sun, director of Seoul's International Relations Division. “We will keep expanding engagement with foreign missions and honorary citizens, building a recurring global network that turns policy experience into feedback, improvement and deeper cooperation.”