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Earlier this month, Gwanghwamun Square was remodeled and returned to the arms of the citizens.

A special exhibition is being held to commemorate this, and one of them was controversial because it reminds me of the Japanese flag, and it was eventually demolished.



Reporter Kim Sang-min reports.



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One worker begins to tear the large artwork on the wall of the bus stop.



This is a collage work that the Seoul Metropolitan Government planned and started the exhibition with a 30-year-old designer in time for the reopening of Gwanghwamun Plaza on the 6th.



From the Joseon Dynasty to 2022, a total of 4 pieces were displayed on the wall of the bus stop to show the changes of Gwanghwamun Square by era.



There is a red circle and a square shape in the background, and there is the Government-General of the Joseon government building in the work, but criticisms have arisen on SNS etc. whether it represents the Japanese flag or the rising sun flag.



[Joyeong-dong / Dong-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City: There is a statue of King Sejong right in front of us, and the fact that there is a picture of the Governor-General in the back like this is a history of disgrace...

.]



The Seoul Metropolitan Government said that it was intended to show the process of overcoming a painful history. I explained that it meant the door.



[Seoul City Affairs Manager: (Designer) said that a circle is a door.

We are 'Gwanghwamun'...

.

You said that the square symbolizes the road.

That's why you placed a gate or a door leading to the exit next to it.

The wave is peace, then the leaking freedom...

.]



Although it was demolished after consultation with the artist, there are also opinions that it is excessive as it belongs to freedom of expression and shows the era as it is at the time.



[Han Ji-eun / Hanam-si, Gyeonggi-do: By knowing even such pain, we can better understand Korea, and even if there is controversy, I think that it is our history and it is true and it is a part that we should all care for.]



The Japanese Government-General of Korea was completed in 1926, during the Japanese colonial period .

After liberation, the government building was used as a government building for the U.S. Army and the Republic of Korea, and the National Museum of Korea was completely dismantled in 1996.



(Video coverage: Chan-soo Lee, video editing: Jong-mi Kim, CG: Cheon-woong Park)