Ihwa residents want to remove murals

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Tue, September 26, 2023 | 21:42

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Ihwa residents want to remove murals

"관광객 많아져 불편" 이화동 벽화훼손 주민 5명 입건

Posted : 2016-05-13 17:35

Updated : 2016-05-13 21:09

Visitors take photos in front of a mural at Ihwa Mural Village in central Seoul. As hundreds of domestic and foreign tourists come to see the murals, residents complain of the noise they make and the wastes they leave behind.

By Lee Kyung-min

Ihwa Mural Village in Ihwa-dong, central Seoul, has been one of the city's must-visit tourist attractions in recent years.

Dozens of visitors ― or hundreds on weekends ― come to the hillside village, which had been an ordinary underdeveloped slum until recent years when artists transformed it by painting murals on various walls in the area. They take photos in front of various murals, wandering here and there through the hillside village to look for paintings.

Not all residents, however, are happy with the flood of tourists, expressing annoyance with visitors making noise, littering and often scribbling on the walls around the murals.

The situation has gotten worse recently as spring came and the number of tourists spiked accordingly, according to a resident.

"I heard many people living here complaining that they cannot stay indoors without wearing earplugs or headphones," he said. "It gets even more crowded on weekends."

Unable to bear the noise and disturbance, five residents covered up some of the murals with gray paint.

Police booked the five people without physical detention for defacing two murals near their homes, Friday.

Officials at the Hyehwa Police Station said the five may face charges of destroying property for causing damage to the city's iconic tourist sightseeing destination.

Of the five, three are suspected of pouring gray paint on a concrete staircase painted with sunflowers at around 8 p.m. on April 15. The remaining two allegedly poured paint on stairs decorated with fish at 12:10 a.m. on April 24.

A sign urges visitors to Ihwa Mural Village not to be loud for the sake of residents.
/ Korea Times photos by Lee Kyung-min

The costs to repaint the stairs are estimated at some 42 million won ($36,000) and 10 million won, respectively, according to police.

The booking followed complaints by the Jongno District Office and the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism demanding an investigation.

The five residents told police that they destroyed the paintings after the district office's years-long indifference to their complaints of the noise and disturbances.

"One of the men lives right next to the stairs," an artist living in the village, 61, said.

"He said he was constantly bothered by the noises tourists made, laughing, shouting and running around until past midnight," he added.

Repainting the walls is not likely for the time being, as the murals and paintings were made by art professors and volunteering college students under a ministry project in 2006.

"We don't have the authority to decide whether to repaint the stairs," an official from the district office said.

"We will hold hearings and discussions to give those affected the chance to address their issues, and reach an agreement. We will also seek cooperation of the culture ministry."

The murals began to appear in 2006 as the ministry launched a project to develop the poor neighborhood as a tourist landmark with a unique atmosphere, allocating a budget of 250 million won.

A total of 68 experts and painters offered consultations on the project to come up with design ideas, and 70 paintings were drawn there on walls, stairs and the exteriors of some houses.

"관광객 많아져 불편" 이화동 벽화훼손 주민 5명 입건

관광객들이 즐겨 찾는 종로구 이화동 벽화마을의 인기 벽화 '해바라기'와 '잉어'를 훼손한 주민 5명이 경찰에 입건됐다.

서울 혜화경찰서는 벽화마을의 벽화 중 일부를 페인트로 지운 혐의(재물손괴)로 박모(55)씨 등 5명을 붙잡아 조사하고 있다고 12일 밝혔다.

박씨 등 3명은 지난달 15일 오후 8시께 벽화마을 한 계단에 그려진 4천여만원 상당의 해바라기 그림에 회색 수성페인트를 덧칠해 지웠다.

이어 24일 오전 12시10분께 권모(45)씨 등 2명이 벽화마을 다른 계단에 그려진 1천여만원 상당의 잉어 그림을 회색 유성페인트로 덮었다.

낙후된 산동네였던 이화마을은 10년 전 문화체육관광부가 벽화와 그림 계단 등을 조성해 관광명소로 탈바꿈했다.

당시 대학교수 등 전문가 68명이 참여해 종로구 이화동 9번지 일대에 70여개의 작품을 만들었다. 해바라기와 잉어 계단은 그중 대표작이다.

벽화마을 주민인 박씨 등은 관광객들로 인한 소음과 낙서 등이 불편하다며 지속적으로 종로구청과 문체부 등에 민원을 제기했다. 이들은 민원이 해결되지 않자 벽화를 훼손한 것으로 조사됐다.

경찰은 종로구청과 문체부로부터 진정서 및 고소장을 신청받아 수사에 착수, 박씨 등 3명을 먼저 특정해 검거했다. 박씨 등이 잉어 계단 훼손은 부인함에 따라 계속 수사해 권씨 등도 붙잡았다.

관계 기관들은 앞서 주민 불만을 해소하기 위해 주민 간담회 및 워크숍 등을 진행했으나 주민 간 의견이 충돌해 합의점을 찾지 못한 상태다.

종로구청 관계자는 '벽화는 문체부 사업의 일환으로 마련된 것으로, 이전에 참여했던 작가들과 함께 복원 혹은 새로운 작품을 그리는 것을 검토하고 있는 것으로 안다'며 '갈등이 있으니 일방적으로 복원을 추진할 수는 없고 주민들과 협의해 진행해야 할 것'이라고 설명했다. (연합뉴스)

lkm@ktimes.com