Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Drinking at Cheonggye Stream? It could cost you $70
People spend time along Cheonggye Stream in Seoul, July 27. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
Foreign tourists not exempt as Seoul cracks down after bathing, coin-taking incidents
Having a cold beer by the water at Cheonggye Stream may soon come with an unexpected price tag.
Foreign tourists as well as local visitors could face fines for drinking or smoking along Seoul’s Cheonggye Stream, as the city moves to crack down on unruly behavior following a series of incidents that drew public criticism.
Drinking, smoking, entering the water, cooking, sleeping outdoors, urinating and bringing pets to the stream area are already prohibited. But there has been no legal basis for imposing fines, leaving safety officers from the Seoul Facilities Corp. with little option beyond warning violators.
A team of 40 safety officers currently patrols the full length of the stream in shifts.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government plans to formally designate the entire 8.12-kilometer stretch from Cheonggye Plaza to where the stream meets Jungnang Stream as a no-smoking and no-drinking zone under the National Health Promotion Act and revise related ordinances so district officials can directly enforce the rules and begin imposing fines by the end of the year.
Fines for drinking and smoking are expected to be set at up to 100,000 won ($70.70) under Article 34 of the act. Enforcement will cover the pedestrian paths alongside the water, but not roads and sidewalks at street level above the stream.
The tougher measures follow several recent cases of unruly behavior at the popular downtown attraction that drew attention online.
Last month, a man and a woman were filmed wading in the stream near Palseokdam, or Eight Stone Pond, and scooping up coins that visitors had tossed into the water.
The coins are collected for charity, with Korean coins going toward scholarships through the Seoul Scholarship Foundation and foreign coins donated to organizations including UNICEF Korea.
Days later, another video showed a woman bathing in the stream in broad daylight. She was seen sitting by the water with bathing supplies, pouring water over herself with a plastic bowl, soaping herself and scrubbing her skin as passersby walked past.
People have also been caught smoking along the stream.
“Cheonggye Stream is one of Seoul’s major recreational spaces shared by citizens and tourists from Korea and abroad, and the majority of visitors should not be inconvenienced by the illegal or inconsiderate behavior of a few,” said Jeong Seong-guk, head of the the city’s water circulation safety bureau.
“We have assigned dedicated personnel to areas where problems have occurred, and we will move quickly to establish effective measures, including fines, to keep Cheonggye Stream pleasant and safe.”
The city has stationed dedicated patrol personnel around Palseokdam and the Gosanja Bridge area, where some of the incidents occurred, while the 40 safety officers continue rotating patrols along the stream.
It has also added signs and banners warning against prohibited activities such as entering the water, bathing, smoking and drinking. With Cheonggye Stream drawing large numbers of overseas visitors, the city is also using multilingual banners with pictograms and plans to provide guidance on the rules to travel agencies and the tourism industry.