Demolition of 114 Street Vendors Including Cheongnyangni Area... Corresponds to 20% of Dongdaemun-gu

Dongdaemun-gu public officials are carrying out the removal of illegal street vendors. (Photo by Dongdaemun-gu Office)

Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Lee Pil-hyung) announced on the 14th that it has removed a total of 114 street vendors (street stalls) over the past year, from the end of last year to recently. Street vendors have been a consistent source of complaints from residents.

The district stated that through 34 maintenance operations from the end of last year until the 6th of this month, it has regulated 39 permitted street vendors and 75 illegal street stalls. This accounts for 20% of all street vendors (562 locations) in the district.

For the maintenance efforts, the district designated and operated the first special judicial police (Special Judicial Police) in the road law sector among autonomous districts to conduct a survey of street vendors, confirming 262 registered street stalls in the Cheongnyangni area and securing personal information. Additionally, the street vendor maintenance advisory group informed street stall organizations and members of the street stall management principles and maintenance priorities they decided upon.

The district continues to promote maintenance based on basic principles, such as deferring maintenance of livelihood-type street stalls as much as possible, except in cases where they interfere with road construction or public facility installation sections.

A district official stated, “Although there have been strong protests from street vendors and related organizations as street vendor removals continue, we plan to respond strongly by immediately maintaining and imposing fines if the cleared areas are reoccupied.”

The district is also making efforts to find various response methods by holding meetings with street vendors and related organizations regarding issues arising after removals.

Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, said, “We will continue to do our best to keep our promise to residents to create Cheongnyangni as a ‘walkable street’ through continuous maintenance of street stalls and street vendors that infringe on pedestrian rights and spoil the urban landscape.”

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