93% of Songpa Residents Say "Defamatory Party Banners Must Be Removed Immediately"

Songpa-gu to Conduct ‘Public Awareness Survey on Political Party Banners’ for Two Weeks Starting August 1

High Interest with 10,000 Participants... “Too Many Banners, Period Too Long, Content Inappropriate”

Guidelines Alone Cannot Achieve Practical Regulation... Songpa-gu Prepares Its Own Improvement Plan

Demolished Party Banner

“Having to see mutual accusations and boasting even on banners is pollution. You can avoid watching TV or news, but you can’t walk around with your eyes closed to avoid banners...”, “In the SNS era, political party banners with offensive language that make people frown are really a waste of money,” “The urban aesthetics are ruined, and the content is just full of slander like malicious comments; they should be removed.”

Many Songpa-gu residents pointed out problems with the rampant political party banners and raised their voices for removal.

Songpa-gu (Mayor Seo Gang-seok) disclosed the results of the ‘Public Awareness Survey on Political Party Banners’ containing these opinions on the 23rd.

Although the Ministry of the Interior and Safety established revised guidelines in May to address the issue of rampant political party banners, there are no detailed standards on how to display them, making it practically impossible to regulate banners causing inconvenience to residents on site.

Accordingly, the district conducted a survey to gather residents’ opinions to prepare practical improvement measures for managing political party banners. The survey was conducted online and offline for 14 days from August 1, with a total of 9,744 participants.

Notably, over 7,000 residents responded within just seven days of the survey’s start, and more than 100 related comments were posted on the district office’s official blog, showing high interest.

The survey results showed that the majority of respondents perceive political party banners as ‘pollution’ that harms urban aesthetics and public sentiment, contrary to their intended purpose.

Regarding the current number of installed political party banners, 87% answered ‘too many,’ and 72% evaluated the information provided as ‘not helpful.’ Additionally, 68% considered the content ‘inappropriate,’ and 72% responded that the 15-day posting period is ‘too long.’

Above all, it was clear that the fatigue caused by indiscriminately posted political party banners is very high. Opinions that ‘if the content of political party banners involves slander, defamation, or ridicule, the district office should immediately remove them’ reached 92.7%, and ‘if they harm urban aesthetics and safety, they should be removed immediately’ reached 94.7%, strongly indicating the ‘need for removal.’

Comments on Songpa-gu Office Blog

In fact, according to the district, since the revision of the Outdoor Advertising Act in December last year, which guarantees political party banners as ‘normal political activities,’ more than 200 removal requests have been received.

Going forward, the district plans to reflect the survey results and prepare its own measures for managing political party banners.

Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “I thank the residents who actively participated in the survey and gave honest opinions,” and added, “We will take the lead in finding a balance that guarantees the freedom of political party activities while protecting residents’ safety and urban aesthetics by preparing management measures suitable for local conditions and realities.”

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