hankyoreh

staff photographer)

Seoul Metropolitan Government held an event on May 10 to mark the opening of a elevated road at Seoul Station into walking and picnicking space for the public.

Citizens enjoy an event on May 10 to mark the opening of an elevated road at Seoul Station into a one-day walking and picnicking space for the public. (by Kim Seong-gwang

It is the second event in the city’s ongoing efforts to transform the road into a park space, after another in October of last year.

The four-hour opening event, titled “Meeting the Seoul Station Elevated Road for the Second Time: Spring on the Road,” was held on the elevated road between 11 am and 3 pm by the city and the civic group Elevated Road Walking.

For the project, an artificial lawn measuring six meters across and 2,400 square meters in area was built along the upper 400 meters of the elevated road. Picnicking members of the public ate their own lunchboxes on the lawn or bought lunchboxes at the nearby Namdaemun and Malli Markets.

staff photographer)

Citizens each lunch boxes on an elevated road at Seoul Station

A lunch box meeting program was also organized on one side of the lawn, with Namdaemun merchants, city officials, and experts sitting down over their meals to discuss the park project with residents in areas affected by it, including the nearby neighborhoods of Jungrim, Seogye, Gongdeok, and Hoehyeon. A variety of cultural performances were offered by a group of ten musicians, and a new bookstore opened with over 10,000 books collected from second-hand shops.

May 10. (by Kim Seong-gwang

staff photographer)

Meanwhile, merchants with the Namdaemun Market Merchants’ Association held a demonstration in front of Namsan Overpass near the event location to protest the Seoul Station park project.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon spoke out on May 10 to address the merchants‘ opposition, which stems from concerns about traffic congestion.

“We’re planning to work quickly to link [the project] to the northern station area and build alternative routes,” Park said.

“We will be completing alternative roads to the Seoul Station elevated road within my term,” he added. Park‘s term ends in June 2018.

By Kim Seong-gwang, staff photographer