Seoul to Ban Street Merchants
by Brendon Carr
Noticed a short blurb in Editor & Publisher a few days ago (hey, I am closely following Pinch Sulzberger’s destruction of the Old Grey Lady) noting a Korea Times report about some supposed plan of the Seoul City Hall to abolish street kiosks—you know, the little metal boxes where you can buy a newspaper, gum, or in some cases a cool drink of milk, juice, or soda, or get your shoes shined or repaired.
The reports say the government is concerned that the kiosk owners are “too wealthy” (thanks to the real-estate boom, almost 9/10 of one percent of them have apartments worth more than mine, and more than 3/4 are not living in poverty!) to be allowed to provide these needed public accommodations. In America, the shoeshine man who puts his kids through college is a heartwarming human-interest story; here in Korea, apparently, he’s a cause for concern, breaking his end of the bargain to stay poor. I can’t imagine another “global hub” without street merchants—not even Pyongyang (it’s toward the end of that story).
This is a mistake, and will make life in Seoul worse. Obviously, it won’t be the end of the world or anything, but isn’t it nice to able to get a shine as an impulse buy? Street merchants and sidewalk kiosks add life to a city. We need more vibrant city life on the streets of Seoul, not less. At this rate, I’ll never get a frietkot here in Seoul!.
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That’s just bizarre.
<blockquote>It’s correct to describe the prevailing legal culture as an “avoidance” model rather than a “compliance” model… By keeping everyone out of compliance at all times, the state then has a handy bludgeon to wield when someone gets out of line—This is because you’re a lawbreaker, see? You don’t deny you were breaking the law, do you?</quote>
Considering this, do we really think that the street vendors will disappear. It will just increase the bribes that they have to pay to the various entities and we can still go on getting our shoes fixed on the streets.
fencerider, until 2009 some of them will undoubtedly bribe their way into staying in business, because the report says some “poor folks” will be allowed a grace period. No such luck for the wealthy shoeshine man.
Of course, the policy may be reversed in the meantime.
I understood that ALL street vending is actually illegal and has been for a long time. I have relatives who run a sandwich stand (the moveable, pojangmacha type not the kiosk type) in Seomyeon, Busan and its a real gangsters business because of it’s illegal nature. Whenever the city feels like it they can make them shut down...like during the APEC a couple years a go.
It’s just such an important part of day to day Korean life, I just don’t see them really doing anything about it. Again, I see this as just a way to keep people poor and play the ‘compliance’ card whenever they want. Sort of a friendly 2x4 between the eyes kind of reminder to those who are making a living (and then some) doing it.
Food vendors have a licensing problem, in that there is a law called the “Food Sanitation Act” which requires—you guessed it—sanitation facilities in the cooking areas.
But other vendors in fact are lawful.