Beijing has Tiananmen Square. It is called Tiananmen Square because of the Tiananmen gate. If you look closely at Tiananmen, something normally found on a grand gate is missing — a signboard. We are all familiar with it from photos and videos. The front of Tiananmen displays the national emblem of the People's Republic of China at the top, with a portrait of Mao Zedong hanging below. Flanking Mao's portrait are the phrases "Long live the People's Republic of China" and "Long live the great unity of the world's peoples," written in simplified Chinese characters. In other words, Tiananmen has no signboard. Originally, the characters "Tiananmen (天安門)" were inscribed where the national emblem now sits. Shortly after the communist takeover in 1950, the "Tiananmen" signboard was reportedly removed and replaced with the national emblem.
Tiananmen Square itself underwent a massive transformation from the 1950s onward. The Great Hall of the People (the national legislature) was built on the left, and the National Museum of China on the right. The Monument to the People's Heroes stands at the center of the square, with the Chairman Mao Memorial Hall below it. All traditional buildings surrounding the square were demolished and replaced with modern communist-era structures. Still, it is hard to deny that there is a grand sense of order and unity anchored around Tiananmen. It is also hard to argue that the gate in its current form needs a signboard.
The reason for this lengthy discussion of China is that Korea and China are the most prominent examples of nations with public squares centered on palace gates. If Beijing's Tiananmen Square is anchored by Tiananmen, Seoul's Gwanghwamun Square is centered on Gwanghwamun. So what is the situation with Gwanghwamun Square and Gwanghwamun gate?
A controversy has recently erupted over the Gwanghwamun signboard. It began after Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young told Acting President Lee Jae-myung at a cabinet meeting in January that an additional Hangeul signboard would be installed on Gwanghwamun. In other words, a Hangeul signboard would be added alongside the existing Classical Chinese signboard, giving Gwanghwamun two signboards. This is not an entirely new idea. Under the Yoon Suk-yeol administration in 2024, then-Culture Minister Yoo In-chon had proposed replacing the Classical Chinese signboard entirely with a Hangeul one.
