Many Koreans celebrate New Year's Day by visiting beaches or mountaintops to see the first sunrise of the year or by gathering around a bell in Seoul on New Year's Eve.
The bell which is rung following the countdown of the New Year is called Bosingak and is located in Jongro, a district in central Seoul. You can see this bell, if you get off at Jonggak Station, subway line 1. The literal meaning of Jonggak is "bell pavillion"
On New Year's Eve, streets around Bosingak are closed off as huge crowds gather to see the bell-ringing ceremony.
During the Joseon Dynasty, the bell was rung to announce the opening and closing of the four gates around Seoul. At 4 am and 10 pm the bell was hit 33 times and 28 times respectively. However, in 1898, a tram which passed by Namdaemun, one of the four gates, was installed in Seoul. Because the gate had to be opened always, the bell was not sounded anymore. In addition, the introduction of modern clocks meant that there was no need to hit the bell to announce the time. It wasn't until 1953, more than half a century later, that the bell was heard again by Seoulites when it was rung to announce the New Year.
During the Japanese invasion in 1592, the two-story pavilion which houses the bell was burnt down and the bell was damaged. In 1619, the pavilion was rebuilt as a single story structure and a new bell was placed in the pavilion as well. However, the bell was lost in fire and rebuilt four more times until the end of the Joseon Dynasty.
The present two-story pavilion was built in 1980.
