World Fireworks Festival Today... Controversy Over 'Prime Spot' Mats Traded for Hundreds of Thousands of Won

[Anchor]

Ahead of the fireworks festival taking place today (September 5), spots across Yeouido Hangang Park are being traded for hundreds of thousands of won. People are preemptively laying down mats on "prime viewing spots" and selling them for money.

Reporter Cho Min-ki investigated the scene.

[Reporter]

The grassy banks of the Han River are filled with mats.

These spots have been preemptively claimed to watch the Seoul World Fireworks Festival. In most cases, no people are in sight, leaving only notes warning others not to touch the mats.

Warning signs prohibiting such spot hoarding are posted in various locations around Yeouido Hangang Park.

However, the lawns are packed with mats whose owners are unknown.

On second-hand trading websites, posts offering to sell these claimed spots and mats have been flooding in since days ago.

Prices range from 160,000 won to 300,000 won for a 4-person capacity depending on the location, with some individuals posting multiple listings.

Surprised by the unusual sight rarely seen during normal times, citizens taking a walk in Hangang Park expressed disbelief, finding it difficult to understand.

[Moon Myung-su / Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul: It's a public space, so privately selling it for money just doesn't make common sense.]

[Lee In-jung & Yu Ho-yeon / Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul: Claiming a spot and reselling it for 300,000 to 400,000 won doesn't look good to begin with.]

Even if spots are preemptively occupied and sold for money, there is practically no legal basis to regulate this.

[Mirae Hangang Headquarters Official: We won't be collecting and removing them. Because that would ultimately lead to friction, and we have to keep avoiding conflicts.]

When we contacted a seller pretending we wanted to buy a spot, they gave a reassuring response.

[Second-hand Marketplace Seller: Even they (the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the police) can't touch it. They can't arbitrarily touch someone else's property. It would constitute embezzlement of lost property.]

Amid the absurd situation where spaces meant for everyone to use for free are being traded for hundreds of thousands of won, prices for paid options have skyrocketed.

At restaurants offering views of the fireworks festival, a 2-person menu priced at 6 million won appeared, and a post reselling a hotel stay voucher for 3.2 million won was uploaded to a second-hand trading platform.

Posts offering to rent out one's own home for hundreds of thousands of won also emerged, while an increasing number of apartment complexes completely banned visitor vehicles from entering to prevent outside drivers from parking for free.

(Video by: Choi Dae-woong | Video Editing by: Shin Seeun)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.