Hong Seok-cheon on Commercial District Issue: "Flower Bed Created During Former President Park Chung-hee's Era... Remove It and Make a Parking Lot"

Broadcaster Hong Seok-cheon / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Seulgi Kim] Broadcaster Hong Seok-cheon said, "The biggest problem causing the death of the Gyeongridan commercial district in Itaewon, Seoul, is the severely insufficient parking space."

On the 18th, Hong Seok-cheon posted on his Instagram, saying, "Could you please remove this mysterious flowerbed in front of the Itaewon Post Office in Gyeongridan and turn it into a parking space?"

Hong said, "I sincerely ask. Parking space is the biggest problem," and added, "I'm not asking for a new parking lot to be built with money. Even after telling dozens of times that existing leftover spaces could be used, why is there no response? Is it because parking fines are quite profitable?"

He continued, "Saving self-employed businesses, supporting small business owners, revitalizing alleys... You only talk about these things but don't provide practical solutions. Is that a way of telling us to die?" He lamented, "Gyeongridan became famous because it had enough charm. That is thanks to the young people and local residents who created unique small shops."

He added, "It is a neighborhood where people gathered and enjoyed the culture, which made it popular, but the more popular it became, the more parking spaces became insufficient. Of course, I understand that spacing is needed due to fire lanes," and explained, "So if you remove that flowerbed and separate the road in a bar shape, you can secure space and create a parking lot for more than 10 cars at a very low cost."

Hong said, "I found out that the flowerbed was created by former President Park Chung-hee for the convenience of traffic on Route 1 from the Blue House to Seoul Airport, and local elders told me it is a waiting space for police vehicles controlling the area," and added, "When was that? So much time has passed, yet no one has changed this."

Finally, Hong said, "Please implement practical administration. Self-employed people are dying due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19)," and asked, "Is it really this difficult to come up with creative ideas at times like this? I sincerely ask you."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.