N Seoul Tower’s Locks of Love

by BETCHAY on APRIL 10, 2009

I went to Namsan (Mt. Nam) last Wednesday for the “Namsan Cherry Blossom Festival.” I saw the announcement for the festival last Saturday afternoon when I accompanied my husband on his “training” for a marathon that he’ll be attending next week in Ganghwa-do.

The jogging course is where the festival is being held until Saturday. Most of the cherry blossom trees when I visited were just starting to bloom. There will be a show at 7PM tomorrow night at the area. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to go there since we’re accompanying my parents-in-law back to the province.

I went first to N Seoul Tower before going down on foot to the jogging course. There were so many people that day. It was like a circus with thousands (I’m pretty sure!) of young students, tourists and people like me who didn’t have anything better to do in attendance.

What caught my attention are the “Locks of Love” that I first saw back in 2007 when I visited the tower with my sister (who was in Korea for four days). We were amused to see them in the fence surrounding the N Seoul Tower area. Here’s how the fence looked like before:

Last year (2008.04.20) , I was in the N Seoul Tower again with my parents-in-law, my husband’s aunt and my son. Of course, the “Locks of Love” was continuing to amuse visitors of the area:

Last Wednesday (2009.04.07), I wasn’t surprised to see that the fence was totally “locked!” Locks of varying sizes and style have filled the fence.

Aside from the fence on the second floor viewing deck, the management had also put up “trees” for the “locks of love” on the first floor viewing deck.

This concept isn’t a Korean original. I read that “Lovers’ Locks” could also be found in Tokyo Tower in Japan.

What do the locks symbolize? They’re the lovers’ promise that they will never separate. Another interesting spot at N Seoul Tower is the “Lover’s Message Tile”. More on that later.