By Sohn JiAe
Photos = Jeon Han
June 1, 2017 l Seoul

The new Korean administration's Gwanghwamoon 1st Street, a public arena where members of the public can offer up ideas concerning politics or new policies that they hope the government will consider, is garnering more and more media attention from around the world.

On June 1, a group of 21 journalists and broadcasters from 17 news outlets in six countries visited the Gwanghwamoon 1st Street public platform, at the Hangeul Park near Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul. They included NBC and the Wall Street Journal from the U.S., NHK and TV Asahi from Japan, and the Xinhua News Agency and the People’s Daily, both from mainland China, among others. The journalists were able to see first-hand how the public can share any form of politics they want at the site, as well as share any opinion that they want the government to hear.

The group was also told about a series of related programs on offer, such as the Open Mike (국민 마이크) and the Open Forum (열린포럼), both additional locations where citizens can publicly talk about their thoughts concerning the government. There was also the Study Room With Highlighted Quotes for the President (국민이 만드는 대통령의 서재) booth, where citizens placed books that they want President Moon Jae-in to read, or books in which they highlighted quotes or sentences that they thought might be of use to the president.



“Gwanghwamoon 1st Street is an embodiment of Gwanghwamun Square, a symbol of direct democracy, to which anyone can have access, both online and offline,” said senior presidential secretary for social innovation Ha Seung-chang as he hosted talks with the visiting media outlets. “This is where we hear the politics that the citizens want the government to deal with, and the ideas that they want to share with the government. It's also where we host special programs for that purpose,” the secretary said.

“We will run this public platform for 50 days to collect the public’s ideas about how to run the new administration in an effective manner, from all across the nation. Over the next 50 days, we will examine and analyze the collected ideas. Gwanghwamoon 1st Street will grow into a democratic platform that allows people to freely share their opinions, to which, in turn, the president will respond,” he said.

jiae5853@korea.kr