By Kim Jae-heun
Street vendors in Seoul may no longer have to worry about district officials raiding them and confiscating their stalls, as the city government will offer them legal status starting next year.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Sunday, it drew up guidelines to effectively deal with street vendors in a meeting last week, offering licenses to run the street businesses.
The new system will take effect in January.
Most stall keepers have no legal status, as occupying streets with unauthorized facilities is officially forbidden in Korea. In that respect, they have long been subject to government crackdowns, regulating and demolishing them.
As of last October, nearly 7,300 people were running street stalls in the capital. Only 1,000 among them had city permission, and over 6,000 vendors sold food and general merchandise in the street illegally.
Seoul had cracked down on street vendors claiming they inconvenienced pedestrians and degraded the city's appearance.
However, supporters argued the local government is infringing the vendors' right to live with too many crackdowns and strict regulations. Most street vendors rely on their small businesses for their livelihoods.
In 2013, the city switched its position to support street vendors and invited city planning experts and civic groups to work out a solution.
The city government has come up with several guidelines for the merchants to follow.
The main suggestion included taxation for operating street businesses and an annual education course as a licensing requirement.
Street vendors cannot hold monopolies and they must abide by regulations of installing street furniture as enforced by the city.
The street vendor license lasts only for a year. Also, only the person who registered the business can run it.
"The guidelines are the result of our long discussion. Now that street vendors can do business legally, we hope our system support their livelihood and an improved pedestrian environment for citizens as well," a city official said.
The stallholders can apply for licenses as of January next year, with a six-month grace period until then.
Street vendors in Seoul may no longer have to worry about district officials raiding them and confiscating their stalls, as the city government will offer them legal status starting next year.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Sunday, it drew up guidelines to effectively deal with street vendors in a meeting last week, offering licenses to run the street businesses.
The new system will take effect in January.
Most stall keepers have no legal status, as occupying streets with unauthorized facilities is officially forbidden in Korea. In that respect, they have long been subject to government crackdowns, regulating and demolishing them.
As of last October, nearly 7,300 people were running street stalls in the capital. Only 1,000 among them had city permission, and over 6,000 vendors sold food and general merchandise in the street illegally.
Seoul had cracked down on street vendors claiming they inconvenienced pedestrians and degraded the city's appearance.
However, supporters argued the local government is infringing the vendors' right to live with too many crackdowns and strict regulations. Most street vendors rely on their small businesses for their livelihoods.
In 2013, the city switched its position to support street vendors and invited city planning experts and civic groups to work out a solution.
The city government has come up with several guidelines for the merchants to follow.
The main suggestion included taxation for operating street businesses and an annual education course as a licensing requirement.
Street vendors cannot hold monopolies and they must abide by regulations of installing street furniture as enforced by the city.
The street vendor license lasts only for a year. Also, only the person who registered the business can run it.
"The guidelines are the result of our long discussion. Now that street vendors can do business legally, we hope our system support their livelihood and an improved pedestrian environment for citizens as well," a city official said.
The stallholders can apply for licenses as of January next year, with a six-month grace period until then.
