[Harumanbo Harucheonja] A Healing Urban Bulletin Board to Read and Write On

If you visit the Kyobo Building in Gwanghwamun or the Kyobo Tower in Gangnam, take a moment to look up. You will see a sign that reads, "Lift your heels, make a place for the first snow to fall."

Kyobo Life Insurance has unveiled the new winter edition of the Gwanghwamun Billboard starting from the 27th to welcome the winter season. The Gwanghwamun Billboard by Kyobo Life Insurance has been delivering messages of hope and love for over 30 years since 1991. Every year, summer and winter editions are displayed at the Gwanghwamun Kyobo Building and Gangnam Kyobo Tower. This winter’s billboard features a poem titled "This is a Love Song" by poet Lee Won. It will be displayed until March 3rd of next year. The message expresses the hearts of those eagerly awaiting the coming new year. In particular, it encourages adopting a proactive attitude, like lifting one’s heels to achieve one’s desires. The design depicts a family walking together along a snow-covered path.

Gwanghwamun Geulpan Summer Edition. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The autumn edition (August 28 ? November 26) featured a line from poet Shin Dalja’s "Autumn Field": "Look at the autumn field after planting and harvesting three thousand times? is there such a generous piece of paper?" The summer edition (May 30 ? August 27) included a line from poet Ahn Heeyeon’s "What I Learned on the Summer Hill": "Just by the fact that it is passing, some time folds in half; when unfolded, it becomes a different landscape." The spring edition (February 27 ? May 29) featured a line from poet Kim Seontae’s "Close Friend": "On a warm spring day, grandfather and young grandson walk arm in arm, toddling along."

Gwanghwamun Letter Board Spring Edition. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@

Since 2014, Kyobo Life Insurance has been creating the Gwanghwamun Billboard together with citizens by selecting the autumn edition’s design through a ‘University Student Design Contest’ every year. This year, themed on Shin Dalja’s "Autumn Field," 256 entries were submitted. The grand prize-winning work, "A Generous Heart," was highly praised by the judges for its original idea of depicting the field itself as a large sheet of paper and for capturing the dynamic feeling of the autumn field in its design.

Since 2015, Kyobo Bookstore has been running the ‘Handwriting Culture Promotion Campaign,’ hosting events such as the ‘Kyobo Handwriting Contest,’ where participants submit handwritten sentences from books, and ‘Handwriting in Daily Life,’ where people showcase their own handwriting on social media. They also provide free fonts imbued with the emotions of the Kyobo Handwriting Contest winners.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter Editions of the Gwanghwamun Letter Board