[Walking Through Seoul] From "Controlled Seoul" to "Open Seoul"

"Management-Type Sentences" with Warnings Like "No Smoking" Everywhere
"No Kids Zone" and "No Senior Zone" Signs Also Appear
"Someone" Managing the Unspecified Many
Limited Effect, Only Discomfort Remains
Need for Inclusive and Open Policies Welcoming Everyone

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, I have visited Seoul three times. I stayed quite long, and at first, spending joyful time with friends I wanted to see was simply delightful. However, as time passed, I somehow felt uncomfortable. I thought it might be due to the pandemic's impact, but that didn't seem to be the case. This spring, when most restrictions were lifted, I felt even more uncomfortable. Then I found the reason. It was the feeling that I was being managed everywhere I went. Announcements played and notices were posted everywhere. Besides the subway, a typical example, I now often encounter them even in small restaurants or cafes. The tone is also rather harsh. It has long been common to see signs in university restaurant restrooms asking not to flush toilet paper. But in a restaurant restroom I visited this time, there was a scary warning that if caught flushing toilet paper, legal action would be taken. Signs prohibiting smoking on the streets used to simply say "No Smoking," but now openly indicate that CCTV surveillance is in operation. Guidance and warnings are mixed together. Such so-called 'management-type sentences' could be seen everywhere.

This is not just a problem unique to Seoul. However, as population density increases, the number of 'management-type sentences' also increases, so Seoul has these management-type sentences everywhere. I am not a smoker and try not to bother others, so these sentences managing smokers do not restrict my behavior. But from an urban spatial perspective, it is a different issue. Encountering such management-type sentences everywhere in daily life is uncomfortable. Rather than feeling comfortable and free, it feels somewhat scary and closed. It even feels like if I make a mistake, I might be dragged to the police station immediately. Since these did not appear overnight, residents seem to accept them as they are, but thinking that they are being accepted so indifferently is even more frightening.

Korea's "No Kids Zone" signs, which prohibit children's entry, were surprising enough to be covered by American media such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. At first, it seemed shocking, but now more people seem to accept it. We should oppose it itself, but there are claims that since only children are prohibited, elderly people should also be banned. And indeed, "No Senior Zone" signs have appeared. Following children, management-type sentences that refuse customers above a certain age have emerged. A culture that openly shows preference against and exclusion of someone like this without concern!

Such 'management-type sentences' and 'no zones' do not simply restrict someone's behavior or cause discomfort. Frequent exposure to management-type sentences is the result of judgments made by 'someone.' In other words, that 'someone' believed that unspecified many people must be managed. To prohibit smoking in parking lots, a no-smoking sign is enough. But here, it goes a step further to include a strong warning. If notices do not work, in the past, warnings were given directly to the person or ignored, but now warning signs are posted. This may indicate that the emotional tolerance to resolve exceptions is decreasing. It is scary that the number of those 'someones' is increasing.

A no-smoking notice is posted outside a building in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The tone becomes increasingly strong and strict. The phrase "legal action," which used to serve as a strong warning, is now so common that it no longer feels novel. Tough words do not solve all problems. There is a limit to the severity of warning signs, and even CCTV, a common tool for legal action, cannot capture every moment. The effect is limited, and what remains is discomfort. Management-type sentences that assume unspecified many people as targets of legal action are unpleasant from the customer's perspective. If many people feel this discomfort and raise objections that they cannot endure it, management-type sentences will disappear, but the discomfort encountered everywhere is too great to wait that long.

No zone signs are uncomfortable in another sense. Many restrictions on entry and behavior are imposed to protect children by requiring accompaniment by guardians or to prevent accidents involving the elderly and vulnerable. There are also sales restrictions on products like cigarettes and alcohol to protect youth. All these measures are for safety and to prevent possible accidents. Social consensus on these has long been established. However, no zones are thoroughly discriminatory and exclusionary language. They originate from the purpose of managing who enters. This purpose has two aspects. One is the pursuit of easy management. Restricting someone's entry is believed to help operate the space. It is thought that there will be fewer things to worry about due to children or that one can avoid rude behavior from elderly people. The other is to show dislike and contempt for the target. While one may dislike someone, using that as a reason to restrict entry and use in public places is a violation of human rights and an anti-democratic act.

Let's briefly consider this. In the streets and spaces of Seoul that we casually walk through, such coercive and anti-democratic sentences are posted everywhere. Seoul is a city with tremendous influence nationwide. When something starts in Seoul, it soon spreads to other regions. Therefore, this atmosphere must be stopped before it spreads. There are limits to individual will and effort. It must be solved by a system. The city should actively prepare alternatives for such problems that damage the overall image of the city. However, the idea of "strict punishment" wherever these warning signs are posted is problematic.

Seoul City should set an example in places it operates or manages and implement policies to create an open city welcoming to everyone, befitting the capital of a democratic country. It is worrisome that democracy seems to be retreating and nationalism is blowing strongly everywhere today. The trend detected in Seoul is the exact opposite of the mega-trend flowing toward openness. It is necessary to turn the direction back toward an open Seoul. The more open Seoul becomes, the more these harsh management-type sentences and exclusionary and discriminatory notices encountered everywhere will gradually disappear.

Robert Fauzer, Former Professor at Seoul National University

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