Namsan Seoul Tower, Television tower in Yongsan District, Seoul, South Korea

Namsan Seoul Tower is a television tower in the Yongsan District of Seoul, built on top of Namsan Mountain and reaching a height of just under 237 meters. Because the mountain itself rises to around 243 meters above sea level, the structure's tip sits at roughly 480 meters, making it visible from most parts of the city.

A consortium of broadcasters and the South Korean government proposed the tower; ground broke in December 1969, the concrete shaft and mast were topped out in 1971, and the observation decks were finished in 1975. A safety inspection then led President Park Chung-hee to restrict it to transmission use, and the decks stayed disused until the tower opened to the public in October 1980. The Postal Mutual Aid Association owned it from 1980 until 1999, when it was sold and YTN was selected as buyer.

The tower appears regularly in Korean films, dramas, and music videos, making it recognizable far beyond Seoul. Visitors today can see the fences covered in padlocks left by couples, each one inscribed with names or short messages.

Private cars and taxis can no longer drive to the base; the street up is limited to buses and bicycles, and the nearest car parks are a 30- to 40-minute uphill walk from the entrance. The Namsan Cable Car, running since 1962, takes three minutes from the northern edge of Namsan Park, and the Namsan Oreumi inclined elevator links Sogong-ro to its lower station. From the upper station you still climb a stairway to Palgokjeong Square and the tower entrance. City buses 01A and 01B loop around Namsan, and cyclists use the one-way South Ringway, entering near the National Theater of Korea.

The tower changes its lighting color at night to indicate air quality: blue means clean air, green is acceptable, yellow is poor, and red signals bad conditions. This turns the structure into a live display that locals and visitors can read from across the city.