Choice for Seoul's next brand narrows to two

Home > National > Social Affairs

Choice for Seoul's next brand narrows to two

Published: 03 Feb. 2023, 18:22

'I Seoul U' has been the city's brand since 2015. [YONHAP]

The choice for Seoul's next city branding slogan has been narrowed to “Seoul, my soul,” and “Seoul for you.”

According to Seoul Metropolitan Government on Friday, voting to narrow down the candidates from four to two was conducted from Dec. 28 to 31. Some 397,721 people took part in the vote — 185,300 Koreans and 212,421 foreigners.

"Seoul, my soul," led the pack with 148,466 votes, followed by "Seoul for you" with 138,825.

"Amazing Seoul" came third with 70,385 and "Make it happen, Seoul" with 40,000 votes.

"Seoul, my soul" received more support from foreigners with 93,886, accounting for 44.2 percent of the foreigner vote. They were joined by 54,580 Koreans, or 29.5 percent of the Korean vote.

"Seoul for you" gained more support from Koreans, with 70,330 voting in favor of the slogan, or about 38 percent. Some 68,495 foreigners, or 32.2 percent, voted for the same brand.

The Seoul government said that given the narrow gap in votes between the first two candidates, it plans to hold a final vote between the two later this month.

“We thank the people who are participating in developing a new brand for Seoul,” said Choi Won-seok, a public relations official for the Seoul government. “We hope that people will participate in the final vote and pick the new brand slogan with their own hands."

The Seoul city government started branding the city with the mayorship of Lee Myung-bak.

"Hi Seoul" was selected as the city's brand slogan in 2002." It changed to "Hi Seoul Soul of Asia" under mayor Oh Se-hoon 2006.

The city again changed the brand to "I Seoul U" in 2015 under mayor Park Won-soon.

Former mayor Oh returned as the city mayor after winning a by-election in April 2021.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]