‘Mapo-gu Square’ Established in Costa Rica, South America on the Opposite Side of the Earth

Yudonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, Hosts Meeting with Costa Rican Ambassador and Charg? d'Affaires to Korea; 'Costa Rica Square' Established in Sangam-dong in 2004, Costa Rican President Visited Last November

Real-time Video Streaming Smart Screen Installation View (Example)

The scene of the Mapo-gu-Costa Rica exchange promotion meeting held on the 16th (left: Alejandro Jose Rodriguez Zamora, Ambassador of Costa Rica to Korea; right: Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] A meeting to discuss the blueprint for establishing ‘Mapo-gu Square’ in Costa Rica, located 13,950 km away from Korea, was held at Mapo-gu Office on the 16th under the title ‘Mapo-gu?Costa Rica Exchange Promotion Meeting.’

At the meeting, Yoodonggyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, Alejandro Jose Rodriguez Zamora, Ambassador of Costa Rica to Korea, and Jorge Valerio, Minister-Counselor of Costa Rica to Korea, attended to discuss the creation of ‘Mapo-gu Square’ in Costa Rica and the promotion of international exchanges.

Located in southern Central America, Costa Rica, a country with a population of 5.1 million known as the ‘Prosperous Beach’ and repeatedly ranked first in the Happy Planet Index (HPI) by country, has had ties with Mapo-gu since 2004.

At that time, the Costa Rican Embassy, which was located in Mapo-gu, proposed the creation of a Costa Rica commemorative square in Sangam-dong. Mapo-gu accepted the proposal and named a 4,377㎡ square in Sangam-dong ‘Costa Rica Square,’ installing a monument engraved with the square’s name and flagpoles to raise the Costa Rican flag.

President Carlos Alvarado visited ‘Costa Rica Square’ last November and personally planted a sculptural pine tree symbolizing the friendly cooperation between Mapo-gu and Costa Rica as part of Mapo-gu’s flagship policy, the ‘Planting 5 Million Trees’ project.

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and Costa Rica and to promote continuous exchanges, this meeting featured a presentation by Park Byung-gyu, Director of the Urban Design Institute at Seoul National University of Science and Technology, on the ‘Mapo Square Creation Project in Costa Rica.’

The proposed site for ‘Mapo-gu Square’ in Costa Rica is a 5,000㎡ public area located in the capital city, San Jose. The site is 20 minutes from the international airport and is near the city hall, schools, technology companies, and innovation clusters, making it a place with high foot traffic.

The blueprint presented designed the square reflecting traditional Korean architectural styles and cultural elements, creating a place to commemorate the diplomatic relations between Korea and Costa Rica.

Additionally, smart screens broadcasting real-time videos were proposed to be installed at both ‘Mapo-gu Square’ and ‘Costa Rica Square’ to exchange audiovisual cultural content between Mapo-gu and Costa Rica, as well as to serve as promotional venues to highlight tourist attractions.

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