Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon to Reexamine Marathon Courses and Schedules Amid Traffic Disruption Controversies

▲ File photo of a marathon event in Gwanghwamun

As citizens' complaints mount due to traffic controls and other inconveniences caused by consecutive marathon events in downtown Seoul, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has stated that he will "renegotiate the courses and schedules for next year's events from scratch."

Mayor Oh posted on Facebook, saying, "Due to yesterday's marathon events, major roads across Seoul—from Gwanghwamun to Olympic Park, and from Sangam to Yeouido—were blocked on a large scale." He added, "A total of 190 city bus routes had to detour one after another, and even the alternative routes were choked with vehicles, leaving traffic completely paralyzed."

He bowed his head, stating, "I deeply accept the frustration and inconvenience that citizens must have experienced on a precious weekend morning."

Mayor Oh noted, "I am well aware that these marathons are a festival that runners have waited for all year," but explained, "Although we requested and negotiated course adjustments with the organizers several times to minimize public inconvenience, we ultimately could not prevent widespread disruption."

Mayor Oh explained, "Earlier this year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government established a 'marathon guideline' and more than halved city-sponsored events from 15 last year to 7 this year." He added, "We advanced the start times to before 7:30 a.m., placed caps on the number of participants per location, and moved up the lifting of half-course traffic controls from 11:30 a.m. last year to between 10:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. this year."

He continued, "Despite these efforts by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, events sponsored by the central government surged from 1 last year to 23 this year, resulting in large-scale traffic controls exceeding 30 times this year." He further remarked, "It would be hard to find a major global city that blocks downtown roads and holds marathons this frequently."

He lamented, "Marathon events are not subject to local government approval, and the authority to control roads rests with the police, leaving the Seoul Metropolitan Government with many limitations on its own."

Mayor Oh urged marathon organizers, including media companies and public institutions, to "heavily consider the inconvenience citizens will experience when deciding whether to sponsor and host events." He added, "The Seoul Metropolitan Government will also put its heads together with the government, police, and organizers to come up with fundamental measures."

Mayor Oh emphasized, "Roads belong to all citizens," and vowed, "I will persistently look after measures to reduce public inconvenience."

(Photo provided by Seoul Metropolitan Government, Yonhap News)

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