‘Jeonil Building 245’ Reborn as a Civic Historical and Cultural Space

Mayor Lee Yong-seop Evaluates "The First Step in Upholding and Developing the Noble Spirit of May Martyrs"

On the afternoon of the 11th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, attended the opening ceremony held at the multipurpose auditorium of Jeonil Building 245 and participated in the plaque unveiling ceremony with the guests. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Jeonil Building, which fully preserves the pain of Gwangju in May, has been reborn under the name ‘Jeonil Building 245’ after a complete remodeling.

On the afternoon of the 11th, Gwangju Metropolitan City held an opening ceremony at the multipurpose auditorium of Jeonil Building 245, announcing a new start as a ‘space for citizens.’

The opening of Jeonil Building 245 comes 9 years after the plan to use it as an annex parking lot for the Asia Culture Center was abandoned due to limited site space following its purchase in 2011, and 4 years and 4 months after the remodeling project officially began in 2016.

The opening ceremony was attended by Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop, Oh Young-woo, 1st Vice Minister of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Kim Dong-chan, Chairman of the Gwangju City Council, other city council members, National Assembly member Song Gap-seok, elected officials from the 21st Gwangju region, Superintendent of Education Jang Hwi-guk, 31st Division Commander So Young-min, Director of Gwangju Regional Veterans Affairs Office Ha Yoo-sung, Chairman of the 5·18 Memorial Foundation Lee Cheol-woo, KBS Gwangju Broadcasting Station Director Son Kwan-su, MBC Gwangju Broadcasting CEO Song Il-jun, and representatives of the 5·18 organizations.

Pre-ceremony events included the unveiling of the Jeonil Building 245 BI (Brand Identity) sculpture installed in the outdoor gallery next to the main entrance facing Geumnam-ro, a performance of ‘Ta’ by the Municipal Gugak Orchestra featuring a collaboration of assorted drums and wind instruments, and a congratulatory piano performance of pop songs and Korean popular songs in the first-floor lobby.

Following this, Mayor Lee Yong-seop declared the opening, with congratulatory speeches from 1st Vice Minister Oh Young-woo and others, a choir performance by the May Mothers Choir commemorating the opening of Jeonil Building 245, and a media drum performance by ‘Team Icon’ initiated by the attendees’ drumming, marking the beginning of a new era for Jeonil Building 245.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop evaluated, “The remodeling project of Jeonil Building was not merely about restoring a building, but a project that took the first step in rebirthing Jeonil Building, which holds the scars of May 1980, into a historical space loved by citizens, to faithfully remember and inherit the noble sacrifice of the May spirits and the lofty meaning toward democracy.”

He added, “I ask for your great interest so that Jeonil Building 245 can establish itself as a cultural experience space where people can know, learn, and enjoy the essence of Gwangju; a historical and cultural space for the national and global recognition of the noble May spirit that overcame Gwangju’s pain; and a future cultural creation space for fostering an innovative growth ecosystem of Gwangju’s cultural industry.”

During the official event, appreciation plaques were presented to five individuals who contributed to the completion and opening of the ‘Jeonil Building 245’ project, including Kim Dong-hwan, Director of the National Forensic Service, who scientifically verified the ‘helicopter gunfire bullet marks’ on Jeonil Building, Park Hong-geun, the chief coordinator architect of the remodeling project, and other construction-related personnel.

Afterwards, attendees toured all floors from the 1st to the 10th floor, viewing various contents and exhibits, concluding the opening ceremony.

Jeonil Building 245 has one basement floor and ten above-ground floors, with a total floor area of 19,244㎡. The remodeling project invested a total of 45.1 billion KRW, including 12 billion KRW in national funds and 33.1 billion KRW in city funds.

The basement to the 4th floor is a citizen plaza cultural space consisting of a digital information library, Namdo Tourism Center, Jeonil Life Culture Center, citizen gallery, Jeonil archive, and small to medium conference rooms. Floors 5 to 7 house the Gwangju Contents Hub, a space for cultural content creation companies. Floors 9 and 10 are the 5·18 Memorial Space named 19800518. The 8th floor and rooftop serve as observation and rest areas with excellent views of downtown Gwangju and Mudeungsan Mountain, also functioning as small event spaces.

In particular, the 5·18 Memorial Space preserves the original bullet marks and features scale models of downtown Geumnam-ro and Jeonil Building, as well as helicopters, based on testimonies from the time of the helicopter gunfire. It also includes a video space showing scenes of the helicopter gunfire.

Additionally, there is a space to examine the distortions and truths about the 5·18 movement that have persisted over time and to commemorate the spirits who sacrificed themselves for 5·18 and democratization.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.