Persuasion with Local Merchants and Seongdong-gu Officials
“A Process of Building Social Consensus”
A cafe in Seongdong-gu, Seoul, which had previously announced that it would not accept Chinese customers, has ultimately reversed its policy and begun welcoming Chinese patrons again. This change reportedly came after Jeong Won-oh, the mayor of Seongdong-gu, persuaded the cafe to resolve the controversy.
On October 29, Jeong Won-oh appeared on MBC Radio’s “Kim Jongbae’s Focus” and stated, “After we (Seongdong-gu) and local merchants had a conversation with the cafe, the notice (banning Chinese customers) was removed from the store. We are not preventing Chinese people from entering.”
The cafe, located in Eungun near Seoul Forest, had sparked controversy by posting an official notice on its Instagram stating that it would not accept Chinese customers. The English notice, “We're sorry, we do not accept Chinese guests,” quickly spread on social media and became a hot topic among both Chinese and Korean netizens.
Chinese netizens responded with comments such as, “Why are you discriminating against Chinese people?” and “What did we do wrong?” Meanwhile, some Korean netizens supported the cafe’s stance, saying, “Chinese customers talk loudly in cafes and bring in outside food, which causes unpleasant smells.”
However, as of 3 p.m. on the day of reporting, the cafe’s Instagram notice still included the “No Chinese customers” message. Mayor Jeong explained, “It still remains on social media, but the owner asked for a few more days. We are waiting, as it is preferable for the owner to take action voluntarily.”
Mayor Jeong also commented, “This incident is part of the process of reaching a social consensus not to take measures such as banning Chinese customers. When football player Son Heung-min was subjected to racist behavior in the UK, the British authorities banned the spectator from entering and imposed a fine.”
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