Seoul City to Hold Reduced Boshingak Bell-Ringing Ceremony... Joint Memorial Altar Operated in Front of City Hall

Partial Year-End and New Year Events Canceled or Delayed
Joint Memorial Altar from December 31 to January 4

The annual New Year's Eve bell-ringing event at Bosingak in Seoul will be held on a reduced scale to mourn the Jeju Air passenger plane crash. A joint memorial altar for the victims will be set up in front of Seoul City Hall.

According to Seoul City on the 30th, the city will install and operate a joint memorial altar for the victims of the Jeju Air passenger plane accident from 8 a.m. on the 31st until 10 p.m. on January 4 of next year in front of the main entrance of Seoul City Hall. Earlier, the government designated the period from the day before the accident until January 4 of next year as a national mourning period.

A joint memorial altar to mourn the victims is being set up on the 30th at Muan Sports Park near Muan International Airport in Jeonnam, where 179 people died in the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster. Photo by Jang Jin-hyung

Year-end and New Year events planned by Seoul City during the national mourning period will also be scaled down or canceled. A city official explained, "According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s guidelines, year-end and New Year events hosted by national and local governments should proceed as originally planned but be conducted solemnly in consideration of the national mourning period."

First, the New Year's Eve bell-ringing event scheduled from 11 p.m. on the 31st to 1 a.m. on January 1 in the Bosingak area of Jongno-gu, Seoul, will cancel performances and performances and focus on the bell-ringing ceremony in a solemn atmosphere. Only private individuals, excluding Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Seoul City Council Chairperson Choi Ho-jung, will attend the bell-ringing event.

The 'Seoul Light Gwanghwamun' media art exhibition in Gwanghwamun and the sculptural works installed in Gwanghwamun Square will display condolence messages during the national mourning period, showing only lighting and video without sound or music. The Gwanghwamun countdown event scheduled for the 31st will cancel the light show and display only silent videos. Seoul Light DDP will minimize sound during the event.

The 'Seoul Lantern Festival' ongoing at Cheonggyecheon will maintain only the lighting of sculptures. The Gwanghwamun Market will operate in a quiet atmosphere.

Events and performances of 'SeoulCon,' which has been ongoing since the 28th, will also be canceled. Only some programs supporting exports and transactions of domestic small and medium-sized enterprises will operate. The e-sports event 'MKSI2024,' short-form drama awards, the performance 'Minerva,' influencer networking parties, and the World K-pop Festival have been canceled.

The Seoul Plaza skating rink will operate as originally planned until February 9 of next year but will be run quietly without music in a mourning atmosphere. Weekend cultural events and year-end New Year's Eve events have been canceled.