Dispute intensifies over street food stalls near Seoul elementary school

As autumn reaches its peak, street food stalls across from Yeomni Elementary School in Seoul's Mapo District begin lighting up one by one in the early evening. On Oct. 8, the aroma of spicy rice cakes spread through the street. Office workers heading home and nearby residents gathered at the stalls, where drinking sessions continued late into the night.

As the cooler season draws more visitors to outdoor dining spots, a long-running dispute between local residents and street vendors near the school has intensified once again.

In the spring, parents launched a petition calling for the removal of the stalls, citing pedestrian safety and concerns about children's exposure to drinking and smoking. This autumn, vendors have countered with their own petition campaign, urging authorities to protect their livelihoods.

The stalls have stood near Yeomni Elementary School for decades, but tensions have escalated recently after the area gained popularity on social media as a cherry blossom-season outdoor dining destination, dubbed the "cherry blossom night market." A sudden influx of visitors during this year's cherry blossom season led to overcrowding, while smoking, loud disturbances and other problems prompted complaints from residents.

The controversy has also been fueled by allegations that the vendors continued selling alcohol despite agreeing with the district office in March 2021 to switch to a snack-food-focused street vending model known as "georigage" (street stalls) that prohibits alcohol sales. The vendors were reclassified as general snack-food stalls under the agreement.

The Mapo District Office said it had found no cases of alcohol sales during patrols and administrative guidance conducted since August. However, bottles of alcohol can still frequently be seen on tables at the site.

Jeong Yun-ha, 40, whose child is in the first grade at Yeomni Elementary School, said customers begin drinking at around 5 p.m., when children are still traveling to and from after-school academies.

"I have seen people urinating in public and dumping food waste into storm drains," she said.

Kim Ji-suk, also 40 and a parent at the school, complained about unsanitary conditions, including rubbish scattered across the street.

"It would be better if the stalls were removed," she said.

According to the Mapo District Office on Wednesday, six street food stalls operate in the area near Yeomni Elementary School, all without road occupancy permits. From January through September this year, the district received 33 related complaints, including 27 requests for enforcement, four concerning alcohol sales and two calling for the stalls to be removed or relocated.

Vendors, meanwhile, are urging authorities to let them stay, describing the stalls as their livelihood for more than 40 years.

Last month, they submitted a petition bearing 926 signatures to the district office under the banner of a campaign to "protect Mapo's street food stall district."

The vendors said they had made efforts to minimize inconvenience to residents, including setting up their stalls only after school dismissal to avoid obstructing students' passage. They called on authorities to find a way for both sides to coexist.

Han Ok-sun, 76, who has operated a stall near Yeomni Elementary School for about 40 years, said she had already adjusted her business hours out of consideration for students.

"I used to start operating at 2 p.m., but now I begin setting up at 5 p.m. because I think about the students," she said. "If I'm forced to leave, I won't know how to make a living."

Another vendor said the business had operated for nearly five decades without major problems.

"I feel upset that this controversy erupted after business picked up this year," the vendor said.

Kim, 27, an office worker who regularly visits the stalls, argued that the busiest hours for customers do not overlap with school dismissal.

"Most customers come after school lets out, so the two don't really overlap," he said. "I hope they can find a way to keep the stalls operating."

Local resident Choi An-na, 38, also said "it would be a shame if a street filled with memories were to disappear."

There is still no clear solution to the dispute. Proposals under consideration include relocating the vendors to another site where they could operate legally or designating a separate area for them.

The district office said no decision had been made.

"We will continue communicating with the street vendors' association and stall operators to explore ways to improve the situation," a district official said.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.