Mayor Jung Munheon: "Our national stature is divided into before and after BTS... Jongno District is mobilizing all its know-how"

Interview with Jongno Mayor Jung Munheon
"If semiconductors represent our economy, BTS represents our culture"
Using protest-management know-how to ensure safety
Improving residents' quality of life... accelerating the Jongno-style fast-track redevelopment project

"Cleaning up trash, managing safety, and even taking care of any public urination if it happens... Isn't that exactly what basic local governments are supposed to do?"

Jung Munheon, Mayor of Jongno District in Seoul, said this with a smile, but his eyes were serious. He was interviewed in his office on the 20th, one month before BTS's comeback concert at Gwanghwamun Square on March 21. Big Hit Music and HYBE are in charge of planning the concert, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government will oversee overall safety management, but the actual hands-on work on the ground falls to Jongno District.

On the 20th, Jung Munheon, Mayor of Jongno District, explained the visitor safety management measures for the BTS comeback concert in an interview with The Asia Business Daily. Provided by Jongno District.

"Know-how from managing rallies and demonstrations, now applied to the BTS concert"

To prepare for the BTS comeback concert, Jongno District already set up an "Integrated Response Headquarters" a month ago, headed by the vice mayor. Twelve departments are participating, organized into four teams in charge of price stabilization, safety and medical care, environmental order, and urban promotion, with each bureau chief serving as team leader.

Mayor Jung said, "After the impeachment crisis, we were practically managing protest safety every day last year," and added, "In the process, we built up significant know-how, from arranging subway entrances and exits, emergency medical response, and securing access routes for fire and police, to garbage collection." He noted that the upcoming BTS concert is an opportunity to apply that experience as it is.

On the day of the concert, the number of staff assigned to the Disaster and Safety Situation Room will be significantly increased compared with normal days, and 120 employees will be organized into 30 emergency duty teams of four people each. The district will closely monitor closed-circuit (CC) TV at Gwanghwamun Square, Gyeongbokgung Palace, and nearby subway stations, and immediately alert related agencies if overcrowding occurs. On-site medical clinics and rapid response teams will operate from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and a coordination system has been established with three regional disaster medical assistance teams, including Seoul National University Hospital.

Personnel from HYBE, the event organizer, and the district office will be deployed for cleaning on the day of the concert and the following day, and 25 portable toilets will be installed on the site of the integrated Jongno District Government Complex in Susong-dong. All 28 public restrooms in facilities adjacent to Gwanghwamun Square will also be opened. Illegal street vendors will be cleared in stages starting the night before the concert, and a special crackdown on illegal parking and standing will run from 1:00 p.m. until midnight on the day of the event.

Mayor Jung said, "This is unglamorous cleanup work where, even if you do it well, you only break even in terms of recognition," but he laughed as he added, "Working for the convenience and safety of citizens and residents is, after all, the destiny of district office public servants."

Having studied in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, Mayor Jung said, "The way the world looks at us has completely changed. Our national stature is divided into before and after BTS," and added, "If semiconductors are what represent our economy, then BTS is what represents our culture. Even if the country awarded them a higher decoration, it would not be excessive." In 2018, BTS became the first idol group to receive the Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit. The Hwagwan Order of Cultural Merit is the lowest of the five classes of the Order of Cultural Merit.

Overtourism must be addressed for a sustainable Seoul

Asked about the impact that increased tourism from the concert will have on commercial districts in Jongno, Mayor Jung said, "In the short term, it is good for merchants if business booms thanks to BTS, but we should be concerned if overtourism worsens." Overtourism refers to overcrowding and environmental and social problems that arise when the number of tourists exceeds a region's capacity to accommodate them. With Jongno District already attracting 10 million visitors a year and additional large crowds expected to continue pouring in, he stressed that a mid- to long-term management system is needed that goes beyond simply supporting one-off events.

Jongno District has already designated Bukchon, which is heavily frequented by foreign tourists, as a "special management zone" and is implementing policies to reduce inconvenience for residents. Recently, the district designated "drop zones" for tour buses, areas exclusively for boarding and alighting, to prevent traffic paralysis caused by traffic lanes turning into bus parking lots, and launched a system that encourages tourists to walk instead.

Mayor Jung said, "People only buy a bottle of water or an ice cream if they are walking around; if they just sweep through the area by bus, it does nothing to help local businesses," and added, "We are already hearing that positive changes are being observed on the ground." He also said, "The possibility of designating Seochon as a special management zone is already on the review table."

Mayor Jung said, "Jongno is a place where 23% of all cultural properties in Seoul are concentrated, and it is an unrivaled cultural and artistic center of Korea, with 20 registered art museums, 37 museums, and 161 performance venues," adding, "We plan to put the 'Jongno Art Bus', which was operated on a trial basis last year, into full operation starting next month." The Jongno Art Bus is a shuttle-style art bus that connects Gwanghwamun with Jamun Outside and Seochon, and the journey itself is a cultural tourism product that becomes an artistic experience.

Jeong Munheon, the district mayor, said with a laugh, "Working for the convenience and safety of citizens and residents is the natural duty of public servants." Provided by Jongno District Office.

"Development that benefits residents"... Jongno-style fast-track redevelopment also gaining speed

The top priority for Jongno, as identified by Mayor Jung, is improving residential environments. Jongno District is currently pursuing a "Jongno-style fast-track redevelopment project" covering 31 redevelopment zones and 19,360 households. The fastest-moving area at present is the Changsin and Sungin-dong districts. In the Changsin-dong 23-il area, the district expects union establishment approval to be possible within the first half of this year, and in the Changsin-dong 23-606 and 629-il areas, it has decided to pursue a trust-based method and plans to finalize the implementation method soon.

The Sungin-dong 56-il area also plans to finalize its project method within the first half of the year. In the Haengchon-dong 210-2-il area, which was selected as a candidate site last November, the district has launched a service to establish a redevelopment plan, aiming to finalize a master plan within this year.

Mayor Jung said, "The best approach is to push ahead as quickly as possible under the principle of development that benefits residents, without leaving anyone behind," and added, "Our goal is balanced redevelopment that preserves Jongno's historical value while dramatically improving residents' quality of life."