▲ Mirae Hangang Headquarters officials crack down on preempted spots.
"I will secure a prime viewing spot for the Seoul International Fireworks Festival in Yeouido on September 5. Ultra-prime location, deadline approaching."
On secondary-market trading websites, dozens of posts offering to sell "prime" viewing spots for the Seoul International Fireworks Festival, which kicks off in Yeouido today (September 4), have been uploaded.
Prices range anywhere from the 100,000-won range to the 300,000-won range.
When asked about the pricing, a seller who claimed to have reserved spots for several years replied, "250,000 won for a four-person spot."
Asked how much it would cost to reserve three to four mats, the seller quoted 600,000 won.
Starting a month prior to the event, these websites saw posts offering to rent out private homes or transfer nearby hotel reservations for millions of won, while this month has shifted toward posts offering to stake out prime locations in advance.
The terraced area beneath Wonhyo Bridge, known as one of the prime viewing locations within Hangang Park, was already filled with mats starting on the morning of September 3.
Warning notices from the Mirae Hangang Headquarters reading "Preempting spots is prohibited" were attached to unattended mats, but people appeared to ignore them.
The headquarters plans to collect unattended mats starting at 9:30 a.m. today (September 4) and store them at the Yeouido Information Center.
Competition for parking is equally fierce.
Numerous posts have appeared on secondhand trading websites offering parking passes for nearby buildings so people can park on the day of the event.
Emphasizing the close distance between the event site and the parking lots, sellers are offering one-day passes for 20,000 to 30,000 won.
On the "Fireworks Festival Parking Advance Reservation Page" provided by Kakao Mobility, parking lots near Yeouido were mostly sold out early on.
The same goes for parking lots surrounding Noryangjin Station, Yeouido Station, Yongsan Station, and Gongdeok Station, which are located slightly away from the main event site.
Anticipating that visitors unable to find parking might use apartment parking lots in the vicinity, management offices at some apartment complexes near Yeouido have completely banned visitor vehicles from entering during the event period and urged residents to refrain from registering acquaintances' vehicles.
As the popularity of the fireworks festival grows year after year, transactions for prime spots and parking passes are running rampant, yet there is no legal way to regulate them.
This is because Hangang Park is a public facility open for anyone to use, and unlike event tickets, it is difficult to identify specific sellers and buyers.
An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government stated, "Just as we cannot regulate someone for sitting at the park overnight, there is no legal basis to regulate or penalize mats, which are not even physical structures." The official added, "While ticket scalping can be tracked down, catching people engaging in commercial transactions through spot preemption is realistically not easy."
With no proper regulations in place, the Seoul Government is responding by hanging warning banners, issuing verbal warnings, and asking secondhand trading platforms to remove related posts.
"Unlike hotels or cafes which are private business spaces, Hangang Park is a public good, which makes it problematic, but since it is difficult to exercise coercive power, we can only appeal to people's morality," the official added.
An official from Hanwa, the event organizer, also noted, "We are actively monitoring secondhand trading sites ourselves and reporting them to the respective platforms."
To resolve the issue, methods such as revising ordinances on the use and management of Hangang Park to prohibit spot preemption starting one day before large-scale events like the fireworks festival have been suggested, but serious discussions have yet to take place.
Meanwhile, cafes and restaurants near Hangang Park with views of the fireworks are busy altering their operational methods or selling special packages tailored for September 4 and 5, when the prelude and main events take place.
A cafe with a view of the Han River near Mapo Station plans to operate normally only until 4 p.m. on September 5, the day of the event, clear out all customers, and then admit patrons on a first-come, first-served basis starting at 5 p.m.
A restaurant near Hangang Park is selling VIP seats with a clear view of the fireworks festival for 6 million won per pair of seats.
(Photo: Captured from Naver Map, Yonhap News)
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