Ok Jae-eun "Seoul City Must Strive to Expand Free Display Zones within Tourist Special Areas"

City Councilor Ok Jae-eun Holds Meeting to Resolve Outdoor Advertising Regulations in Tourist Special Zones

Councilor Ok Jae-eun: “Seoul City must make active efforts to expand free display zones within tourist special zones for institutional, economic, and public interest revitalization...”

Ok Jae-eun, a member of the Administrative Autonomy Committee of the Seoul Metropolitan Council (Jung-gu 2, People Power Party), held a meeting at 2 p.m. on the 7th in the 5th-floor conference room of the Seoul City Council building to address the resolution of outdoor advertising regulations in tourist special zones aimed at making Seoul a global city.

Emphasizing the need to ease advertising regulations in tourist special zones, the meeting was attended by Councilor Ok Jae-eun, Kang Joon-sik (Professor at Kyung Hee University Graduate School of Business), Oh Min-seok (Standing Auditor of the Public Officials’ Injury and Merit Association), Lee Ki-chang (CEO of the Correct Advertising Culture Association), Lim Jeong-hoon (Attorney), Hwang Tae-hoon (CEO of PMX), Choi Ji-hye (Reporter), and Baek Seung-woon (Head of Advertising Team, Seoul City Urban Landscape Division), among others.

The current free display zone, where outdoor advertising regulations have been relaxed, is located within the Gangnam MICE Special Zone designated as a tourist special zone in Seoul, specifically around COEX in Gangnam-gu (four buildings totaling 78,400㎥). It was designated as the first free display zone in 2016 and has been in operation since 2018.

The outcomes of operating the free display zone have been evident in institutional, economic, and public interest aspects. By applying special exceptions such as eased display regulations, a digital advertising cluster was formed, establishing a new industrial ecosystem. This generated advertising sales of 107.4 billion KRW and 50.3 billion KRW in sales from related outdoor advertising industries, totaling 157.7 billion KRW in revenue.

However, since the designation of the first free display zone in 2016, there have been no efforts to ease outdoor advertising regulations in other tourist special zones that could achieve similar economic results.

Participants pointed out that in tourist special zones, the regulation limiting advertising area to 225㎡ or less acts as an obstacle to the revitalization of commercial areas.

Councilor Ok Jae-eun stated, “Most of Seoul’s tourist special zones, like the Gangnam COEX area free display zone, do not have surrounding residential areas and are representative famous tourist destinations in Korea. Designating free display zones there can bring tremendous economic effects, spread Hallyu content, and revitalize commercial districts that were severely damaged by COVID-19.”

She continued, “All merchants have struggled over the past few years, but the pain of merchants in tourist special zones has been indescribable. For the institutional, economic, and public interest revitalization of these tourist special zones, Seoul City must actively cooperate and work with autonomous districts to designate free display zones,” urging Seoul city officials.

Finally, Councilor Ok said, “By expanding spaces beyond 225㎡ that allow creative and three-dimensional advertising using surrounding topographical features in tourist special zones, we can approach tourists not just with advertisements but as art, further elevating the nation’s prestige. I will do my best to ensure Seoul City’s active cooperation.”

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