Seoul Nights Come Alive: City Government Discusses Boosting Nighttime Economy

The Seoul Metropolitan Government held its first regular executive meeting of the 9th popularly elected administration today (July 15), presided over by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, to discuss a new growth strategy: revitalizing the nighttime economy.

Selected as the core agenda item for the meeting, the strategy aims to create a new growth engine for Seoul by organically linking tourism, culture, commercial districts, and transportation.

The initiative seeks to spread the spending of the growing number of foreign tourists to local neighborhood commercial districts and inject vitality into the city center, which often empties out after office hours, to build a "global city of Seoul that stays alive 24 hours a day."

In his opening remarks before the meeting, Mayor Oh said, "Revitalizing the declining neighborhood economy is the key to reviving Seoul's economy and addressing economic polarization." He added, "We must create an atmosphere that promotes consumption by activating at least some commercial districts at night and seek ways to revive the nighttime economy."

He continued, "While there will be departments primarily responsible for this, I hope we can pool our efforts with the mindset that policy effectiveness can be multiplied when all departments work together." He emphasized, "I will focus intensively on (revitalizing the nighttime economy) for the next six months."

The city will establish a new position of "Nighttime Economy General Special Advisor" and launch a task force (TF) centered around this role, involving seven departments including the Planning and Coordination Office, Economic Policy Office, Culture Headquarters, Transportation Office, Public Relations Planning Officer, Tourism and Sports Bureau, and Labor and People's Livelihood Bureau.

A dedicated team will also be established within the Economic Policy Office later this month to manage nighttime economy policies on a regular basis.

Next month, the city will form a public-private governance body involving small business owners and experts to discuss measures to revitalize the nighttime economy that reflect the characteristics of each region.

With this framework and momentum in place, the city plans to develop attractive brands and content to boost the nighttime economy.

First, the city plans to develop an "integrated nighttime economy brand" that connects nighttime infrastructure and content scattered across Seoul.

The city is considering designating "Nighttime Economy Win-Win Special Zones" centered around nighttime landmarks such as the Han River, Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), and Namsan, while exploring measures such as extending outdoor business hours and supporting late-night public transportation.

The city will also launch the "Seoul Moonlight Night Market" brand to foster the "Yajang" (outdoor business) culture as a core content of the local nighttime economy.

It will support the revision of autonomous district ordinances to allow legal road occupancy and outdoor business in areas where pedestrian safety is secured, and will also prepare standard guidelines covering sidewalk width, business hours, and hygiene rules.

Based on this, the city plans to select five "Seoul Moonlight Night Market" locations that meet hygiene and safety standards for a pilot operation this year, and expand to 25 locations by 2028.

In addition, the city will expand nighttime operations of cultural, sports, and tourism infrastructure and discover unique nighttime content such as "Night Sauna" at Han River parks and the "Winter Hibernation Contest" at DDP.

To ensure citizens can enjoy Seoul's nights with peace of mind, the city plans to strengthen crackdowns on disorderly behavior and enhance convenience by expanding late-night bus operations.

To prevent local residents from suffering due to the operation of night markets, the city will require merchants and residents to sign "win-win agreements" that include measures such as noise prevention and fixed closing times, and is considering restricting business operations in case of violations.

The city is also pushing for a plan to reinvest a portion of the profits from night markets into local environmental improvements by accumulating them into a win-win fund.

Meanwhile, the revitalization of the nighttime economy is also being discussed as a core strategic task by the "G3 Seoul Planning Committee," which is currently establishing the "G3 Seoul Plan," the top-level administrative roadmap to realize "Global TOP 3 City Seoul."

The city announced that it plans to release the "Seoul Nighttime Economy Revitalization Comprehensive Plan" in early August, based on the discussions from this executive meeting and the measures derived by the G3 Seoul Planning Committee.

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