Seoul Dongdaemun- gu ( District Mayor Lee Pil-hyung ) announced on the 3rd that it had resolved the problems of the city center’s appearance and inconvenience to citizens by reorganizing a total of 200 illegal street vendors and unoperated street stores from Jegi-dong Station to Cheongnyangni Station .
|
[ Korean Today ] Dongdaemun-gu employees removing illegal street vendors ( Photo provided by Dongdaemun -gu Office ) ⓒ Reporter Park Chan- du |
The area between Jegi-dong and Cheongnyangni-dong is home to nine traditional markets, including Gyeongdong Market and Cheongnyangni General Market, making it an environment where street vendors can easily form . Street vendors, which have been established since the 1960s, have been consistently criticized for causing inconvenience to citizens and damaging the city’s appearance .
Dongdaemun-gu introduced a ‘ street vendor permit system ‘ to solve the street vendor problem in the past , but it showed limitations due to lack of cooperation from street vendor groups and noncompliance with operating regulations . Accordingly, with the start of the 8th local government , the permit system was discontinued and full-scale reorganization began .
|
[ Korean Today ] Before maintenance ( Photo provided by Dongdaemun -gu Office ) ⓒ Reporter Park Chan-du |
In October 2022 , Dongdaemun-gu, in consultation with the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors’ Office, designated seven urban landscape officers and staff as special judicial police officers for the first time in the country . They were in charge of securing personal information of street vendors through on-site investigations of street vendors .
At the same time, the district enacted the ‘ Dongdaemun-gu Street Vendor Operation Regulations ’ to systematically organize street vendors . In addition, it established street vendor management principles and priorities through the ‘ Street Vendor Organization Advisory Group ’ comprised of politicians , lawyers , and civic group members .
|
[ Korean Today ] Appearance after maintenance ( Photo provided by Dongdaemun -gu Office ) ⓒ Reporter Park Chan- du |
1st priority is for street stalls that have moved locations or whose operators have changed , and they are to be immediately renovated without prior notice . 2nd priority is for corporate or family-run street stalls that excessively occupy sidewalks or where a family operates multiple street stalls . Next, street stalls that violate multiple laws , street stalls that occupy crosswalks , fire hydrants , and bus stops , and street stalls that own property that are difficult to view as livelihood-type stalls were targeted for reorganization in order of priority . Street stalls within urban planning project areas were designated as demolition targets regardless of priority .
Through this maintenance, Dongdaemun-gu has cleaned up a total of 200 locations, including 27 street vendors in Seoul , 34 street vendors with permits , 135 illegal street vendors , and 4 other places where goods were stored . This is the largest scale in the country , and other autonomous districts are paying attention as a benchmarking case .
Mayor Lee Pil-hyung of Dongdaemun-gu announced his stance to fundamentally resolve the inconvenience caused to citizens by illegal street vendors . He especially emphasized that he would continue to take strong measures against corporate and non-livelihood street vendors that lead to leases or inheritances .
As the street vendor demolitions continue, protests from some street vendor operators and related groups are growing louder . However, Dongdaemun-gu is determined to maintain its reorganization policy without wavering . A district official said , “ We have tried to manage it through guidance for several years, but we have reached our limits, ” and “ We are reorganizing it fairly according to the standards . ”
|
|
© The Korean Today – All Rights Reserved