Seoul City Says City-Sponsored Marathons Fell While Central Government-Backed Ones Surged, Vows to Ease Public Inconvenience

Amid a sharp increase in public complaints regarding marathon events held across downtown Seoul, it has been revealed that while events sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government have decreased, those backed by the central government have surged.

In response to an inquiry from Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-sik asking whether measures should be prepared to minimize public inconvenience and police burdens resulting from the rising number of marathons, Seoul City stated that it reduced its sponsored events from 15 last year to 7 this year—a reduction of 8 events—while central government-sponsored events skyrocketed from 1 to 21 over the same period.

The city particularly emphasized that out of the 19 events held from January to September of this year, events sponsored by central government ministries accounted for 15, or 78.9%.

The city explained that although it has been implementing the "Marathon Event Operation Guidelines" since January of this year to minimize public inconvenience by adjusting start times and tightening sponsorship criteria, there are limits to what Seoul City's own efforts can achieve due to the increase in central government-sponsored events.

Marathon events are not subject to a local government's integrated permit and approval process, and the authority to control road traffic rests with the police, creating institutional limitations in comprehensively managing event schedules and scales, the city noted.

Stating that stricter management of central government-sponsored events and active cooperation from the police are necessary, the city announced plans to establish a cooperative framework with relevant agencies to coordinate event schedules, courses, and traffic impacts while minimizing public inconvenience.

The city added that it will also disperse running demand into everyday sports through initiatives like "Slowly Morning," which does not involve full traffic control.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.