Seoul City Cancels 'March 1st Anniversary Bell Ringing Event' for Citizen Safety

On the 1st, the 'Bosingak 5 Major Bell Keepers' conducted the 33rd self-ringing of the Bosingak Bell at Bosingak.

On the 26th, the outer wall of Seoul Library's Dream Engraving Board was renewed ahead of the 102nd anniversary of the March 1st Movement. The March 1st Movement, which began in Seoul with the reading of the Declaration of Independence and the Manse protests, did not end on March 1st alone but continued throughout 1919 with over 1,700 Manse demonstrations, making it the largest national movement in our history. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced on the 26th that it will cancel the '102nd Anniversary March 1st Movement Commemorative Bell-Ringing Ceremony' to protect the health and safety of citizens amid the COVID-19 situation.

Although social distancing measures were lowered to Level 2 starting from the 15th, Seoul explained that due to a sharp increase in confirmed cases to 300-400 daily after the recent Lunar New Year holiday, it has inevitably decided to cancel the bell-ringing ceremony to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The commemorative bell-ringing ceremonies held at Boshingak include three events: March 1st Movement Day, Liberation Day, and New Year's Eve Bell-Ringing. Among these, the March 1st Movement Day bell-ringing ceremony has been held since 1946, and the Liberation Day bell-ringing ceremony since 1949. During the Korean War, Boshingak was damaged and the bell-ringing was suspended, but it resumed at the end of 1953 after Boshingak was rebuilt, continuing to the present day.

This year, auxiliary events such as the annual March 1st Movement Day commemorative performance and the Taegeukgi wave parade will be canceled, but the ‘Boshingak 5th Generation Bell Keepers,’ who have protected Boshingak for over 170 years, will personally ring the Boshingak bell 33 times to honor the noble spirit of patriotism and reflect on the historical significance of the March 1st Movement.

Meanwhile, the ‘Permanent Bell-Ringing Ceremony’ held daily from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Boshingak since November 2006 is being conducted with participation limited to fewer than 10 people due to the spread of COVID-19. The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to decide on the normal operation of the event based on the future trend of COVID-19 spread.

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