Yes. The former mayor’s office inside Seoul Metropolitan Library is an exhibition space on the third floor, rather than a working office you need an appointment to enter. The library’s official guide lists it for Tuesday–Sunday,09:00–18:00, closed on Mondays and national holidays. The general reading rooms staying open later on weekdays does not extend that exhibition’s hours.
This is a useful stop if the older City Hall building interests you as much as the books. You can look at a reproduced administrative interior, then use historical records to understand how the building and the streets around it changed. The five archive documents below supply that context; they are not a promise that those particular photographs or objects are currently displayed in the library. Information checked 29 October 2026,KST.
Plan for the exhibition’s closing time first
The library’s Korean homepage lists its general opening hours as Tuesday–Friday 09:00–21:00 and Saturday–Sunday 09:00–18:00, with Monday and public-holiday closures. For the former mayor’s office, use the separate 18:00 closing time in its own guide. Arriving at 18:30 on a weekday may still make sense for an open general reading room, but it is too late to plan around the office exhibition.
Give the room you most want to see priority. If the office is the reason for coming, visit it before settling down with a book elsewhere. An opening-hours table for the building is not a timetable for every service inside it. Reading rooms, special collections and exhibitions can have different schedules, even when they share one entrance and street address.
The official exhibition description identifies the old office, reception room and planning/situation-room area. Its emphasis is municipal administration: records, city history, former mayors and exchanges with other cities. Treat the reproduced furniture as part of an interpretation of the old working environment. The attraction is understanding how a civic building worked, rather than gaining access to present-day government decision-making.
Start with the building’s place in the city, not only its front door
The museum’s map description places the municipal building in the major reorganisation of central Seoul during the colonial period. It refers to the municipal building completed in 1926 and explains how prominent institutions and new roads altered the city’s symbolic axes. That is a more useful starting point than assuming the older facade belongs to the same historical layer as every landmark nearby.
Notice what this document can and cannot tell a visitor. It explains relationships between streets and institutions in its own period. It cannot identify today’s entrance, an accessible route or a current crossing. Keep historical names with their dates, then use the current library address for arrival:110 Sejong-daero,Jung-gu. The official directions point to City Hall Station,lines 1 and 2,exit 5.
A familiar facade can carry very different messages over time
This photograph is catalogued as a 1940 s view. The museum explains the independence and United Nations slogans on the front and gives the photographer’s period of service in Seoul as December 1946 to May 1948. That biographical range helps explain the image, but it should not be turned into a precise date that the record itself does not supply.
Look at the photograph as evidence of changing public messages, as well as architecture. The same civic facade could become a backdrop for different political moments and ceremonies. On a visit, that is a useful question to carry into the interpretation displays: which parts describe the building, which describe an event, and which describe how the city wanted to present itself?
The reproduced rooms make more sense beside records of actual administration
The 1966 record shows President Park Chung-hee receiving a briefing on the city’s previous-year results and plans for the year ahead. It gives a concrete example of administrative use. It is not evidence that every chair, table or wall in the present exhibition is the original object seen in that photograph. A reproduced room and an archival photograph answer different kinds of question.
The rubber-stamp record brings the story down to everyday paperwork. Its description lists stamps for the mayor, administrative departments, approval and payment. These objects help explain how a large institution routed and authorised documents. They also show why a city-history visit need not focus only on famous office-holders: ordinary tools can reveal the working system behind an official room.
When looking at an exhibition, separate an original artefact, a reproduced setting and an image of a past event. Read the individual label before assigning an age or identity to something. This small habit makes the experience clearer, especially when a display combines furniture, photographs, documents and digital interpretation in the same space.
The view outside belongs to a changing city too
The 1983 photograph looks from City Hall toward Sungnyemun and the Plaza Hotel. The museum relates that view to redevelopment around Sogong-dong and the appearance of large modern hotels. It broadens the story beyond the building’s walls: the institution remained a reference point while the surrounding city changed substantially.
There is no need to hunt for the exact camera position to make this comparison meaningful. A historical view from a government building does not certify that the same vantage point is open to visitors today. Instead, compare broad elements such as street space, building height and the relationship between the civic building and its surroundings. Use only public areas that are actually open.
Choose a modest visit rather than combining every nearby attraction
For a visit centred on the old City Hall, the useful sequence is simple: confirm the day’s opening notice, see the third-floor exhibition before 18:00, then decide whether to use an open reading room or continue elsewhere. The library lists separate borrowing and membership services; looking at the exhibition should not be confused with automatically qualifying to take books away.
If you continue to nearby Deoksugung, consult the guide to ordinary palace entry and Seokjojeon tickets as a separate planning question. Do not use the library’s hours or admission arrangements for the palace. Save the library’s Korean name,서울도서관,with its address so you can identify the correct building and ask for the former mayor’s office rather than a current government office.
Historical sources and five actual screenshots:Seoul Museum of History,Seoul History Archive,[1]경성시가도(서울특별시청 주변,1927년); [2]서울시청; [3]박정희 대통령 서울시청 순시; [4]도심재개발 이후 서울시청 주변; [5]서울시청 행정국 고무인. Each record explicitly carries KOGL Type 1; the archive use guide permits commercial use and adaptation with attribution. Photographs are full displayed previews;[1]is the complete description text and[5]the metadata table. Source content has not been rewritten. Current facts,without image reproduction:Former Mayor’s Office guide,current Korean library homepage,library history anddirections. Historical source dates appear beside each image; check and capture date:29 October 2026,KST. Suggested visit order is practical interpretation of those sources.