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There is a land surrounded by a high fence just across the road from Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Although it contains our modern and contemporary history, it is a place that we have not been able to even look into for over 100 years.

Connect with on-site reporters.



Reporter Sangmin Kim, please tell us.



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Although the site in Songhyeon-dong, Jongno-gu, which is three times the size of Seoul Plaza, is located in the middle of Seoul, it has not been opened to the general public since the start of the Japanese occupation, so it has been called the 'Forbidden Land' for over a century.



Now, from tomorrow to the end of 2024, this space will be temporarily open to the general public for two years.



Dozens of small moonlights decorate the autumn night here, centering on the lighting in the shape of a large 5-meter-diameter full moon on one side of the grassy plaza.



The four-metre-high barrier that surrounded the entire site was turned into a low stone wall, with an open green space behind it.



A 10,000-square-meter lawn has been created, which is 1.5 times larger than Seoul Plaza.



It will be used as a space for citizens' rest and cultural and artistic events.



At the end of the Joseon Dynasty, where there used to be houses of the Sedo River and the pro-Japanese groups, the house of Chosun Siksan Bank, a colonial extortion organization, was built here during the Japanese colonial period.



However, as the development plan went wrong due to various regulations, Korean Air decided to hand over the Songhyeon-dong site to the Seoul Metropolitan Government in December last year through a land exchange method.



[Kim Jae-guk / Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul: I must live a long time.

The feeling is new.

Because I thought a lot about whether we could step on this land, and I am very moved by the world today.]



On the site of Songhyeon-dong, there is also a donation hall to display cultural assets and artworks donated by the bereaved family of the late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee. It is planned to be built from 2025.



From this point on, the entry of citizens is prohibited again, and it is scheduled to reopen as an official cultural park in early 2028 when the donor hall is completed and maintenance is completed.



(Video coverage: Hwang In-seok, Lee Chan-soo, video editing: Park Chun-bae)