A water slide stands in Gwanghwamun Square, Jongno District, central Seoul, for the 2023 Seoul Summer Beach on July 28, 2023.NEWS1
Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul is turning into a free outdoor water park on Monday, with a large swimming pool, an 8-meter-long (26-foot-long) water slide, fountains and a sand playground.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Tourism Organization will run the attraction through Aug. 9 across Gwanghwamun Square and Sejongno Park, the city said Sunday. It ties together the city's Gwanghwamun Square Summer Imagination Playground (translated) and the tourism organization's 2026 Seoul Summer Beach event.
This is the fourth year the city has held the Seoul Summer Beach event, which drew about 1.46 million people over 21 days last summer. The organizers have pushed it into Sejongno Park this year.
The site is open daily from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. The water facilities, sand playground, performances and hands-on programs are all free.
The grounds are split into three zones: The Water Wave Zone holds the pool, the water slide and water buckets, the Play Wave Zone has the sand playground and the Play Market Zone, new this year, will host food trucks.
The sand playground centers on Sand Ajit, a domed pit 12 meterswide that is also new. About 20 tons of sand have been brought in for it from five beaches — Yangyang, Ganghwa, Daecheon, Busan and Gunsan. People can either sign up to enter the Sand Ajit on the spot or through pre-reservations, which started on Wednesday.
Three fountains installed in the ground in the square — Myeongnyang, Hangul and Tunnel — will run alongside the playground. They operate from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays and from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, and shut down during rain or high winds.
Children play in the water at the 2025 Seoul Summer Beach in Gwanghwamun Square, Jongno District, central Seoul, on July 20, 2025, after the monsoon lifted and a heat wave set in.NEWS1
Free changing rooms, drying facilities and shaded rest areas will be set up near the Hangul Fountain. Those are open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. for the length of the event.
Evening performances run daily from July 31 to Aug. 2, with a two-hour program starting at 5 p.m. The free lineup includes magic, singing and instrumental music.
A bingo card event with nine missions runs from Monday to Aug. 9, and anyone who completes three or more wins a prize. On Saturday and Sunday and again on Aug. 1 and 2, visitors at a spot called the Garden of Gratitude can take a photo and then shout "gamsahamnida," or "thank you," into a decibel meter. Clearing a threshold earns a prize.
The 2025 Seoul Summer Beach in Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, that ran from Aug. 1, 2025YONHAP
The city and the tourism organization will hold an opening ceremony on Monday afternoon featuring a water cannon display. They said they would keep checking the facilities and the water quality through the run.
Schedules and details on how to participate in the events are available on the Gwanghwamun Square website.
"We will keep expanding the content on offer so that Gwanghwamun Square can settle in this summer as Seoul's signature downtown retreat from the heat, a place where anyone of any age can cool off and enjoy themselves," said Gang Seok, the head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's balanced development bureau.
Children cool off at the 2025 Seoul Summer Beach in Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno District, central Seoul, on July 23, 2025, as the daytime high reaches 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).NEWS1
Children cool off at the 2025 Seoul Summer Beach in Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno District, central Seoul, on the afternoon of July 21, 2025, after the rain cleared and temperatures climbed past 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit).NEWS1
Children play in the water at the 2025 Seoul Summer Beach in Gwanghwamun Square in Jongno District, central Seoul, on July 20, 2025, after the monsoon lifted and a heat wave set in.NEWS1
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
