Made-in-China goods face ban at Insa-dong

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Sat, December 9, 2023 | 05:03

Made-in-China goods face ban at Insa-dong

인사동에서 ‘메이드인차이나’ 제품 퇴출될까

Posted : 2012-02-27 18:20

Updated : 2012-02-27 18:20

A souvenir shop in Insa-dong, central Seoul, Monday. Jongno Office and Seoul City are seeking to ban the sales of products made in China or Southeast Asia out of concern that low-quality items from the countries tarnish the cultural image of the street. / Korea Times photo by Kim Rahn

By Kim Rahn

Seoul City and Jongno Office are moving to drive made-in-China products out of Insa-dong under concerns that low-quality foreign products tarnish the image of the tourist district famous for traditional Korean craftworks and other cultural items.

But the plan is drawing a backlash from merchants there. It is also possible that it contradicts related laws.

According to the Jongno Office, it has asked the Seoul City to revise an ordinance for Insa-dong, the city-designated special cultural district, to remove foreign-made products from the area.

Under the ordinance, the city can ban the operation of businesses that may spoil the purpose of the cultural district designation. The ward office said it will seek to add a new clause to the ordinance so that only made-in-Korea merchandise can be sold within the tourist area.

“We see most of the items at souvenir shops are made in China or Southeast Asian nations, and we worry foreign visitors may mistake the low-quality ones as Korean products. Insa-dong is a thoroughfare of tradition, so products there should fall under this concept,” said a ward office official.

The official said he understands why merchants sell made-in-China items — they need to earn a larger margin with the low-cost products, because the monthly rent of the shops ranges from 5 to 30 million won as Insa-dong becomes more famous and attracts 70,000 to 100,000 daily visitors on weekends or holidays.

“The dominance of foreign-made products is against the purpose of designating Insa-dong as a zone of traditional culture. Such items threaten Insa-dong’s identity,” he said.

He said the ward office’s lawyers concluded it may be legally fine to promote sales of only homemade products there to enhance the district’s image of craftsmanship. “We are discussing it with the city government and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.”

But the city government was more cautious about defining the new clause.

“Even though Insa-dong is a special cultural zone, the clause may contradict the law on free trade. Culture-related laws also don’t have detailed rules on such cases. So, we need an authoritative interpretation from related ministries before revising the ordinance,” city official Kim Hoon-ki said.

Kim said another issue is the reaction from merchants there. “Whether or not they will agree to the idea is the most important. But we expect they will oppose the plan because it will directly affect their livelihood,” he said.

The merchants, as Kim expected, were not happy.

“It is nonsense. Will the city government pay my rent?” said Han, a worker at souvenir shop Eolssigu Madang. “It is true that shops here sell products from China. But shop owners go to China, make the products with Chinese workers and bring them back to Korea, so we can’t say they are really ‘made-in-China,’” Han said, adding they cannot make ends meet solely with domestic products.

Park Won-chul, who runs Jin Moon Picture Gallery but sells souvenirs as well, said about 50 percent of his products are made-in-China. “Foreigners all know the items are from China. But they still buy such products because they are cheap. They don’t buy the expensive items,” the 64-year-old said.

No more cosmetics shops?

Along with the foreign product ban, the ward office seeks to close businesses that may damage Insa-dong’s image, including cram schools, telecommunication agencies, and cosmetics, shoes or bakery chains.

“Since the ordinance was drawn up in 2002, it has banned the operation of 16 businesses unrelated to tradition, such as video rental, karaoke bars, and barber shops, on the main street. With time passing, new businesses also unrelated to tradition emerged and settled in Insa-dong, so we need to revise the ordinance to include the new ones,” the ward office official said.

He also said the related law doesn’t empower the ward office to crack down on such businesses even though they don’t follow the ordinance, adding the law should be changed so that the office can impose fines on them.

Tourists generally consented to the idea. “Seoul has changed a lot since my last visit 20 years ago. But Insa-dong still has the traditional image and I hope it can retain it. Insa-dong doesn’t need to have cosmetic brand shops because if we want to buy such products, we can go to Myeong-dong or Sinchon,” Yoshihiro Watanabe, a Japanese traveler, said.

인사동에서 ‘메이드인차이나’ 제품 퇴출될까
서울시와 종로구는 저가 중국산 제품이 전통거리의 이미지를 훼손한다는 우려 하에 품질 낮은 외국산 제품을 추방하려는 계획을 세우고 있다. 그러나 상인들이 이 계획에 반발하고 있고, 관련법과 충돌할 수 있다는 우려도 낳고 있다. 종로구에 따르면 구는 서울시에 문화지구 조례의 개정을 요청했다. 조례에 따르면 시도지사는 문화지구의 지정 목적을 해칠 우려가 있는 영업 또는 시설을 금지할 수 있다. 종로구는 이를 바탕으로 인사동에 국산 제품만을 팔 수 있도록 제한하는 조항을 신설한다는 계획이다. 구 관계자는 “기념품가게에서 파는 대부분이 중국이나 동남아에서 만들어진 제품인데, 외국 관광객들이 이런 질 낮은 제품은 한국 것이라고 오인할까봐 우려가 된다. 인사동은 전통거리인만큼 여기서 파는 제품들도 이 컨셉에 따라야 한다”고 말했다. 이 관계자는 인사동이 유명해지고 주말엔 관광객이 10만명까지 몰리면서 가게 월세가 5백만원에서 3천만까지 높아져, 상인들이 원가가 저렴한 중국산 제품을 팔고 있다는 것을 잘 안다고 말했다. 그러나 이 관계자는 “이런 외국 상품들은 문화지구 지정의 목적과 어긋나고 인사동의 정체성을 해치고 있다”고 말했다. 구 관계자에 따르면 인사동의 전통 이미지를 살리기 위해 국산 물건 판매를 장려하는 것은 법에 저촉되지 않을 것 같다는 법률자문을 받았다고 한다. 그러나 서울시는 신중한 입장을 보였다. 시 관계자는 “인사동이 특수성을 띠곤 있지만 그런 조항은 자유 무역과 관련된 법과 상충될 수 있고, 문화 관련 법에서도 이런 사안에 대해 명확히 하고 있지 않다. 조례 개정 이전에 관련부처의 유권해석을 받아봐야 한다”고 말했다. 시 관계자는 또 상인들의 반응이 문제라며 “상인들이 찬성하냐 반대하냐가 가장 중요하다. 그러나 생계가 달려있기 때문에 반대가 불보듯 뻔하다”라고 말했다. 실제로 상인들은 불만을 표했다. 한 기념품가게 직원은 “말도 안된다. 그럼 시에서 우리 월세 내준대냐? 중국산이라고 해도, 가게 사장들이 중국에 가서 중국인 직원 데리고 만들어 오는거라 진짜 중국산이라고 할 수도 없다”고 말하며, 국산 물건만으로는 수지가 맞지 않는다고 했다. 표구상과 기념품가게를 운영하는 박원철씨는 “우리 가게 물건 50% 정도가 중국산이다. 외국사람들도 중국산인줄 다 알고 산다. 싸니까. 비싼 물건은 안산다”라고 말했다.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr