"With Social Distancing Lifted, Wedding Invitations Every Week..." Sighs Heard Everywhere Amid Return to Normal Life

Since social distancing measures were lifted last month, many engaged couples who had postponed their weddings due to COVID-19 are now visiting wedding venues. The photo is unrelated to any specific expressions in this article. [Image source=Pixabay]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] As COVID-19 prevention measures have recently been eased and daily life is gradually returning to normal, voices of dissatisfaction, both big and small, are emerging in various places.

First, with the lifting of social distancing last month, many couples who had postponed their weddings due to COVID-19 are now visiting wedding venues. According to a report by Yonhap News on the 15th, major hotels in Seoul such as Lotte Hotel and Shilla Hotel are fully booked for wedding hall reservations until May next year, except for some dates and time slots.

In particular, with the removal of guest number restrictions, the small wedding culture, where only family and close relatives were invited, seems to be gradually disappearing.

However, as a result, there is an increasing number of people complaining about the burden of congratulatory money after being invited to weddings of distant acquaintances.

In fact, several posts have appeared on online communities expressing discomfort about receiving wedding invitations from people they are not very close to. They responded with comments such as "The expense of congratulatory money is becoming burdensome" and "How much should I give for this level of relationship?" There are also remarks that the rising cost of congratulatory money over the past two years has made the financial burden feel heavier.

Additionally, as company dinners increase again, some office workers are experiencing 'endemic blues.' With the increase in dinners and private gatherings following the lifting of social distancing, personal time has decreased, leading to feelings of depression. This is the opposite phenomenon to 'COVID blues,' which involved depression due to reduced outdoor activities during stricter distancing measures.

Street vendors selling goods to subway passengers are also becoming rampant. According to Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's Railway Police on the 15th, reports related to subway street vendors have recently been received at a rate of 20 to 30 cases per day.

Earlier this month, three street vendors moved along 19 stations from Seoul Station on Line 1 to Bupyeong Station in Incheon, spreading mats and loudly exaggerating the benefits of chitosan patches while selling, causing passengers to frown.

As social distancing measures have been fully lifted, workplace dinners are also increasing. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Street smoking has also increased. Since the outdoor mask mandate was lifted on the 2nd, non-smokers have been complaining about the discomfort caused by cigarette smoke. Various online communities and social networking services (SNS) have frequently posted citizens' complaints that street smoking, which had been forgotten for a while after COVID-19, has recently increased significantly.

The number of fines issued for illegal cigarette butt disposal has also increased in some districts. In Yeongdeungpo-gu, which borders the Yeouido business district, 58 cases were detected during the week starting from the 25th of last month when outdoor mask-wearing was mandatory, but this rose to 92 cases in the week starting from the 2nd of this month, an increase of about 1.6 times. In Jongno-gu, Seoul, which has almost no residential areas and many business districts, the average daily number of detections slightly increased from 92.2 to 106.5 during the same period.

Furthermore, as the number of outing visitors surged, urban amusement parks and beaches are suffering from excessive trash.

During the Children's Day holiday bridge, the East Coast of Gangwon, which attracted many tourists, was marred by food waste caused by various cooking activities and delivery food, causing displeasure.

Some tourists visiting Sokcho Beach left leftover food, drinks, and other trash on the mats where they had been playing and left the area. Nearby residents also experienced discomfort due to fireworks being set off late into the night.

The situation was similar at Minrak Waterfront Park in Busan. During the holiday period, crowds comparable to peak summer season gathered, resulting in trash overflowing everywhere.

Suyeong-gu, which has been hiring order maintenance personnel since early June, decided to temporarily deploy public officials and significantly increase on-site cleaning staff as crowds gathered earlier than expected. Suyeong-gu plans to hire order maintenance personnel from the end of this month to respond to various complaints such as illegal trash dumping.