Seoul Plaza in front of the city hall building was made famous during the 2002 FIFA World Cup as a public cheering venue for Korea’s official cheerleading squad, the Red Devils.

An expansive circular field of green grass has replaced the asphalt and features different aspect of the city every season.

A cultural performance on a balmy spring day adds to the refreshing atmosphere and the cool water sprouts from the plaza fountain offers welcome respite from sweltering summer days.

In romantic autumn the plaza hosts a wide range of cultural performances. Then what does the plaza transform into in winter? The answer is a skating rink!

As soon as you come above ground from City Hall Station of subway line number two, you will see the Seoul Plaza skating rink in front of you. The skating rink has now become a must-see attraction in wintertime. Let’s take a spin around the rink.

The opening ceremony of the Seoul Plaza skating rink for this season was held in mid-December.

For the past seven years the Seoul Plaza has undergone a change every winter as a skating rink. In 2009 Gwanghwamun Plaza was transformed into a skating rink to mark the opening of another public plaza in the middle of the city, but Seoul Plaza has reclaimed the right to have the annual makeover this year. Seoul Plaza measure 13,207 square meters in total area with nearly 6,500 square meters of grass. How did this vast expanse of land turn into an ice rink? Here’s Ms. Baek Mi-gyeong of the Sports Promotion Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

We used to make ice with gas, but since last year we’ve been use an eco-friendly method based on electricity. Thin tubes are placed at the bottom of the rink and the generators keep the tubes cold, which keeps the ice rink frozen. It is the same principle as the refrigerator cooling system.

To eliminate gas emission, the Seoul Plaza skating rink employs an electric freezing method and has replaced rubber mats with wooden decks. Also skaters can go only one way to prevent them from colliding into one another while skating. And the winter fun is doubled this year with not one, but two ice rinks.

There is a slight difference in size between the two rinks. One is 25 meters by 50 meters, and the other one is 20 meters by 50 meters. So, one is a little bit smaller than the other. There is no distinction between skating beginners and advanced skaters, so you can skate whichever rink you like.

A four-meter-wide eco-friendly wooden pathway links the two rinks. But there is a small booth in the middle of the path. What can that be?

That is a DJ booth in the center of the pathway. We have signed on a professional music DJ for the whole season. Last year we had a DJ for only about month, but this year we’ve expanded the program. Now a DJ takes song requests from skaters and plays them over the speaker system. The skaters just love it.

How does one go about skating at the Seoul Plaza skating rink? It’s very affordable and convenient. It costs only one dollar for admission and that includes skate rental fee. However, one admission ticket is good for only one hour. Gloves are a must for your own safety, but if you forgot to bring your own, you can always buy a pair at the rink at only 500 won.

With such affordability it’s only natural that a lot of people wait for the Seoul Plaza skating rink to open every year.

- My child just learned to skate this year. I plan to come here at least once a week. One thousand won is almost nothing.
- I’m so excited to be on ice. I feel like a child again.
- I’ve waited a long time for this because my children like it so much. A bus ride costs almost 1,000 won, so it’s really nice that we can have so much fun at such a reasonable price. I know I’m going to fall down a lot, but I’m going to have a lot of fun with my children.

Skates on? Check. Glove on? Check. Now you are ready to speed away on ice.

People are always careful when they first step onto the rink. They try to overcome the fear of falling as they slip and slide on the ice. Some bravely take a step or two but they soon lose their balance and fall on their bottoms. A few still struggle to their feet only to fall down again. But the excitement of ice skating trumps the pain on their behinds.

- It’s winter and I like skating. It’s really fun.
- It’s refreshing and fun. It’s cold, but I’m sweating now, so I’m okay.
- Skating can be done only in winter like skiing or snowboarding. It’s a special winter treat.
-It’s great. I feel like I won a gold medal at the winter Olympics.

No matter how much fun it is to skate, falling down can be a big headache. A skating lesson can solve that problem. This year’s skating program provides more lessons than last year, four times on weekdays and twice on weekends. One lesson consists of one hour of instruction and one hour of free skating. And it costs only 10 thousand won, not even 10 dollars, for a two-hour session.

The first order of the day is stretching. Like all other forms of exercise, thorough stretching is one of the surest ways to prevent accidents and injuries. Now put on your skates and learn the very basics of ice skating.

Once you learn the basics, you are ready to test your skills on ice. Students follow the instructor’s direction and head to the rink.

Children seem to be natural born skaters. Only moments after they learned how to take steps they’re off and away. Not wanting to be outdone by the little ones, adults try their best to follow the children’s suit. Oh, what fun it is to glide smoothly on the ice! Today will long be remembered in the minds of these novice skaters.

- We’ve going out for a year, but were not able to have that much fun together. But today is going to be an unforgettable day.

The Seoul Plaza authorities have paid particular attention to convenient amenities this year. Roughly300 thousand people come to the rink each winter. So, the authorities placed more benches in the resting area with a view of the rinks and enlarged the medical room to treat more injuries. Also, the rinks offers IT services for smart phone users. Here’s Ms. Baek Mi-gyeong of the Sports Promotion Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism again

We have stationed several surveillance cameras so that we can instantly see what’s happening on the rinks. The video feed can be linked to the network so people can see how crowded the rinks are from their homes. We also have Twitter for smart phone users and QR codes for easy downloading of rink information.

Visitors can check out all these amenities and services on the Seoul Plaza skating rink homepage. In particular, this year’s new features include an online ticket purchase system for foreign users. The skating rinks are open from 10 in the morning until 10 at night. Nighttime skating comes with an added bonus of a delightful night scenery created by 373 gingko trees adorned with countless brilliant light bulbs along the two-kilometer stretch from Gwanhwamun to Sungryemun. The light bulbs are not wrapped around the branches, but attached to them to look like wine glasses. The front of Deoksu Palace across from Seoul Plaza seems to be enjoying a snowfall with LED snow bars hanging down from 33 sycamore trees. These wonderful wintertime decorations make nighttime skating a greater fun.

- I came with my mother, my two children, nephews and cousins. My children are from Malaysia and they said that they missed winter. So, this is a great experience. It’s been a fun winter and a great present for my children.
- There’s grass and garden in spring, water fountain in summer, and a skating rink in winter. I love how the plaza changes each season. I have fun every time I come here.

The Seoul Plaza skating rink is open for 59 days until February 13th. The Seoul Plaza homepage has a photo gallery filled with individual photos of skaters. It would be fun to find yourself or your loved ones in the gallery, and add a page to your winter memory album.