Opening of Han River Bridge Local Brand Cafe 'Urban Plant'

Im Man-gyun, Chair of the Environment and Water Resources Committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, Delivers Congratulatory Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Hangang Bridge Local Brand Cafe on the 24th

Chairman Im Mankyoon of the Environment and Water Resources Committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council (Democratic Party, Gwanak 3) attended and celebrated the opening ceremony of ‘Urban Plant,’ which is scheduled to remodel and operate the bridge cafe ‘Gyeonu Cafe’ located in Ichon Hangang Park, at noon on the 24th.

Attendees at the opening ceremony included Chairman Im Mankyoon, Councilor Kim Yongho (People Power Party, Yongsan 1), as well as various officials such as Joo Yongtae, Head of the Future Hangang Headquarters of Seoul City, and co-CEOs Kim Nayoung and Lee Seungho of Urban Plant, who conducted the opening ceremony and other events.

From noon that day, the ‘Urban Plant’ opening ceremony was held at the grass yard under the northern end of Hangang Bridge, and from 4 p.m., the ‘Cafe Jinjeongseong’ opening ceremony took place with a tea ceremony at the tea house on the east side of Yanghwa Bridge.

The Hangang Bridge viewpoint cafes were established as part of the Hangang Renaissance project in August 2009, creating a total of seven locations on four bridges including Dongjak, Yanghwa, Hangang, and Hannam Bridges. By 2013, the number of cafes and rest areas for performances and exhibitions had increased to ten.

However, except for Dongjak Bridge (Gureum and Noeul Cafes), access was difficult, and the Hangang Bridge viewpoint cafes lacked distinctive features, resulting in a significant decline in visitors and most of them were not operating normally.

Accordingly, at the 321st regular session of the Seoul Metropolitan Council in November last year, the proposal for the ‘New Consent for Private Consignment of Management and Operation of Hangang Bridge Local Brand Cafes,’ aimed at selecting excellent local brand cafe operators and operating them efficiently, was passed.

As a result, remodeling of a total of four locations (Hangang Bridge Gyeonu Cafe, Hannam Bridge Saemal Cafe [Urban Plant], Yanghwa Bridge Seonyu and Yanghwa Cafes [Cafe Jinjeongseong]) has been completed and they have been reopened.

In the case of Hangang Bridge, similarly, the ‘New Consent for Private Consignment of Management and Operation of Hangang Bridge Viewpoint Hotel’ was passed, and the Jiknyeo Cafe opposite Gyeonu Cafe was remodeled into a ‘Viewpoint Hotel’ and has been operating as ‘Hangang Sky Suite’ since July.

Chairman Im Mankyoon emphasized in his greeting, “We understand well that Seoul citizens want to enjoy nature nearby. Since the viewpoint cafes that were not operating properly have been renovated into spaces where people can enjoy the Hangang anew, I hope they will be properly operated this time. Not only the Hangang but also the clean and healthy environment of Seoul will be fully enjoyed by citizens, and the Environment and Water Resources Committee of the City Council will do its best to make that happen.”