This rendered image provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Government shows a 100-meter flag pole flying the Taegeukgi, or South Korean national flag, at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

The Seoul Metropolitan Government's (SMG) plan to set up a 100-meter-tall pole flying a giant Korean national flag, the Taegeukgi, in central Seoul has met with doubts from citizens and civic groups. They fear the tall pole may end up being an outdated exhibition of nationalism.

During a meeting with Korean War veterans Tuesday, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced that the city will set up a space dedicated to sculptures symbolizing patriotism and national pride at Gwanghwamun Square.

Highlighting the space will be a 100-meter-high pole hoisting the Korean national flag, measuring 21 meters wide and 14 meters high. Underneath the pole, a media facade will be set up to display moving images, and a brazier will be placed to hold "an inextinguishable flame" to honor patriots and war veterans.

The SMG will spend 11 billion won ($7.9 million) on the project, with a plan to open the new space to the public in February 2026.

Comparing the pole to the Washington Monument in the United States, the Arc de Triomphe in France and the Spire of Dublin in the Republic of Ireland, the SMG said the project is intended to establish a special space dedicated to exhibiting national history, culture and future visions.

The tallest national flag pole in South Korea is a 99.8-meter pole in the inter-Korean border village of Daeseong-dong in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. Oh said, "The new pole will be 100 meters tall, making it the highest Taegeukgi in the country."

An SMG official said it "can make the pole taller in the process of designing," as the SMG intends to hoist the national flag "higher than nearby buildings" to ensure it is visible from afar.

The SMG cited an August 2022 poll on public sentiment as one of the reasons for the project. Conducted by Hankook Research, the poll showed that 85 percent of 1,000 adults said they had a "positive sentiment" about the national flag, but it did not ask about hoisting a giant national flag at Gwanghwamun Square.

This is not the first time that a giant national flag project has been proposed in the heart of the capital. In 2015, the conservative Park Geun-hye administration sought to hoist a giant Taegeukgi to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the country's independence, but failed to do so, as the SMG, then led by the now late liberal Mayor Park Won-soon, opposed the plan citing negative public sentiment.

Members of conservative civic groups wave the national flag during a rally at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, March 1. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon

As the current conservative mayor pursues the project again, citizens raised doubts, questioning the project's political motivations and its functions as a national symbol.

"The national monuments cited by the SMG were symbolizing each country's history, national pride and precious cultural heritage," said Shin Yu-la, 33, a Gwanghwamun-based office worker.

"They didn't bluntly build a giant pole to hoist their national flags. If there is no proper story and cultural background for the pole, the SMG will not be able to avoid criticism that it is carrying out the project only to win the favor of the conservative Taegeukgi protestors."

Taegeukgi protestors refer to groups of far-right conservative supporters who have been staging a series of rallies supporting former President Park Geun-hye who was impeached for a corruption scandal. They are named based on their practice of waving or wearing the Taegeukgi during these rallies.

The national flags of South Korea and North Korea are seen in their respective border cities — South Korea's Paju and North Korea's Gaeseong — in this May 8 photo. Yonhap

"I don't think the pole will have as any historic, cultural or artistic value as a national monument," said Choe Sang-phil, 44, an IT-company worker based in Gwanghwamun. "Taxpayer money should be used for the growth of the national economy. For me, it seems like a Cold War-style propaganda competition."

For almost three decades after the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, the two Koreas engaged in a competition over the height of their national flags in each other's border villages. South Korea in 1980 established an 85-meter tall pole in Daeseong-dong. In response, the North soon erected a pole of similar height in Kijong-dong, which is located just 800 meters away from Daeseong-dong.

In January 1982, South Korea set up the current 99.8-meter pole, to which North Korea responded by erecting a 165-meter flagpole one month later. Since then, Seoul has not increased the pole's height further.

On May 8, Cultural Action, a left-wing civic group, released a statement on the Seoul Metropolitan Council's approval of an ordinance allowing the establishment of the flagpole, denouncing the move as "anachronistic and outdated."

"We must question why the flag issue has resurfaced at this point in time, who desires it, and why," the statement reads. "This is an issue of controlling a space where civic identity is expressed, and an issue of a tool that enforces loyalty to power through nationalism and totalitarianism."