‘Overcharging’ in Myeongdong... 9 Violations Caught on First Day of Crackdown

Jung-gu Deploys 64 Personnel for Daily Crackdowns Until the End of This Month

Jung-gu, Seoul plans to conduct joint crackdowns on illegal activities of street vendors in Myeongdong until the end of this month. (Photo by Jung-gu Office, Seoul)

Jung-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Kim Gil-seong) announced on the 1st that it has deployed 64 enforcement officers in Myeongdong for one month starting from the 31st of last month to eradicate illegal activities of street vendors. They are conducting large-scale joint crackdowns with support personnel from Seoul City and Namdaemun Police Station. Jung-gu explained that they inspect 359 street vendor locations and 23 stalls daily, regardless of weekdays or weekends, to focus on cracking down on illegal activities.

Jung-gu stated, "On the first day of enforcement, some merchants were dissatisfied with the strict crackdown, but most cooperated. On that day alone, we inspected the operation status of 137 street vendors and detected 9 violations."

In this crackdown, the district focuses on third-party business activities such as transfer or rental of street vendor stalls. They also check compliance with alternate-day operation regulations, operating hours, and unauthorized expansion of stalls. If various violations are found, administrative measures such as penalty points, business suspension, and permit cancellation will be imposed. Illegal storage items will be fined, and unauthorized street stalls will be immediately removed and cleaned up upon discovery.

According to Jung-gu, since early July, most street vendors have been disclosing their sales prices to tourists in advance. However, since the price display system does not apply depending on the area of the street vendor and the items sold, the district is preparing a plan to designate the entire Myeongdong area as a mandatory price display zone starting in October to supplement this.

Kim Gil-seong, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, "Through this focused crackdown, we will correct all illegal activities of Myeongdong street vendors and restore the image of Myeongdong as the number one tourist destination."

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