Seoul City Hall Turns Former Staff Break Area Into Free Public Sky Observatory

Visitors to Seoul City Hall can now take in some of the capital's most recognisable landmarks from a new free viewing space, after the Seoul Metropolitan Government opened the Sky Observatory on Monday.

The observatory occupies the eighth and ninth floors on the west side of City Hall's main building. Looking south, it offers clear sightlines over Deoksugung palace and the neighbouring Jeong-dong district, while the northern section faces out toward Gwanghwamun Square. The city has fitted the space with seating and wooden decking so that visitors can linger and relax rather than simply pass through.

Admission costs nothing and no reservation is required. The observatory operates on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., and visitors can reach it by taking the elevator from the first floor up to the Sky Plaza café on the ninth floor.

The space was not always open to the public. It previously served as a break area for City Hall employees, attached to a multipurpose room, before the city government decided its views were too good to keep to itself and converted it for public use. Renovation work on the space began in September.

"The aim was to create a place that people could easily stop by and enjoy," a city official said, describing the project as part of City Hall's wider push to make the building more accessible to the public.