Confirmed Cases Reach 400-500 Range... Controversy Over Seoul City's Promotion of 'Nogari Alley' Ahead of Level 4 Restrictions

On the 10th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government posted a write-up and photos introducing Euljiro Nogari Alley on its official social media accounts targeting foreigners.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Sumi Hwang] Ahead of the implementation of Level 4 social distancing measures for COVID-19 prevention, the Seoul Metropolitan Government sparked controversy by posting a promotional article about Euljiro Nogari Alley on its official social media (SNS) account targeting foreigners. Although the promotion was intended for foreigners, it was criticized as an inappropriate post at a time when all efforts should be focused on quarantine.

On the 10th, Seoul posted a post introducing Euljiro Nogari Alley on its Instagram account 'iseoulu.' This account is an English account created to promote Seoul to foreigners.

The post introduced Euljiro Nogari Alley as a tourist attraction nicknamed "Hipjiro," describing it as "attractive not only during the day but also at night." It continued, "If you visit after sunset, you can see shops brightly illuminating the alley," and explained, "In cool weather, many people gather in front of cafes and bars to enjoy the unique atmosphere of the alley." It also encouraged visitors to "visit Nogari Alley and discover hidden gems along the alley."

This post was criticized as ill-timed amid the fourth wave of COVID-19, with daily confirmed cases in Seoul ranging from 400 to 500. There were also concerns that foreigners might inadvertently violate quarantine guidelines through Seoul’s promotional posts of tourist attractions just before the application of Level 4 social distancing in the metropolitan area.

One citizen criticized in an interview with Yonhap News, "The Level 4 upgrade starts on Monday, but Seoul boldly posted about going to Nogari Alley. Foreigners might see this and think it’s okay to gather in small groups and visit Nogari Alley."

In response to the controversy, Seoul deleted the post. A Seoul city official explained, "The intention was to promote places that foreigners would like to know about so that they visit Seoul more after the pandemic ends. The content was agreed upon before the decision to upgrade to Level 4, and we acknowledge that we did not carefully consider the COVID-19 situation, so we decided to remove it."

They added, "This account is a promotional channel targeting foreigners, with most followers being overseas users and almost no domestic followers."

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