Annual Event to Ring in New Year Canceled Again

For the second year in a row, there will be no live event to ring the giant bell at Bosingak Bell Pavilion to celebrate the New Year.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said Sunday it decided not to hold the annual event again this year and will instead stream a prerecorded video on New Year's Eve amid strengthened lockdown measures caused by a resurgence in coronavirus infections.

The bell-ringing event, which in normal years sees the area near the bell crowded with revelers, was canceled last year for the first time in 67 years.

The prerecorded video includes clips showing Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Cho Hee-yeon striking the bell 33 times, along with a dozen citizens including archer An San, who became a triple gold medalist at the Tokyo Olympics last summer, and Oh Young-soo, an actor in his late 70s who got his big break later in life with his appearance in Netflix's hit Korean series "Squid Game."

The video will be available on various social media platforms including YouTube, so many Koreans will ring in the new year again at home while watching the video, which also features scenes of popular destinations for watching the sunrise.