The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday that the renovation of Gwanghwamun Square will be completed in June for a full opening in July.

Currently, 52 percent of the project has been completed since it began in November 2020. 

In March of last year, a one-point-five-kilometer pedestrian walkway was opened connecting the Sejong Boulevard intersection, Sungnye Gate and Seoul Station. 

The walkway was created as part of the renovation project to cut the number of lanes around Sejong Boulevard from the previous nine to 12 to the now seven to nine in order to expand the pedestrian plaza to 12 meters wide.

In June of last year, shortly after Oh Se-hoon became Seoul mayor, work resumed on eliminating the road in front of the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts as part of the effort to expand the square. 

The total area of the new plaza will stand at 40-thousand-300 square meters, or around two times wider than the current space. 

In particular, around a quarter of the square will be filled with 47 types of trees and some 91-thousand flowering plants. That's some three times more greenery than currently. 

The new square will also house various hydroponic facilities, including a 260-meter-long waterway, a fountain tunnel and a fountain that commemorates Hangeul.