hankyoreh

"What do we do when the city fails to keep its pledge whenever its mayor is reshuffled?"

The face of Cha Jeong-ho, 79, was twisted in anger as he talked to the Hankyoreh. Cha sells small electronic gadgets such as electronic calculators and remote controls at a flea market around Seoul’s Dongdaemun Stadium.

"I came here because the city government promised it would build a world-renowned flea market here. But now the government tells me it is just going to bulldoze this area. Where will I go?"

Cha is not alone. The flea market he works in contains 894 vendors. All are afraid regarding their future after the city government informed them June last year that demolition of the area would begin from the end of this year.

Sohn Myeong-u, 51, who sells T-shirts at the flea market, said, "After the city announced the plan to demolish the market, the number of customers coming here dropped by a third."

Although the city government plans to demolish the market starting in November, it has not announced a solution regarding a new home for the vendors who operate their stores there.

For these vendors, the demolition moves represent yet another in a long line of broken promises from the Seoul government. This was not their original place of work: they were moved here from the Hwanghak-dong flea market after former Seoul city mayor Lee Myung-bak implemented a restoration project of the Cheonggye stream in 2003. At that time, the vendors believed the former mayor’s pledge to build a world-renowned flea market. However, the pledge changed shortly after incumbent mayor Oh Se-hoon took office in May last year, as one of Oh’s campaign promises was to build a park and a design center nearby Dongdaemun.

Oh’s words understandably drew protest from the area’s vendors. Since June last year, the city government has formed a body to seek a solution with five representatives of the vendors, but no agreement has been forged. In fact, the two sides have not met since April due to the government’s failure to call a meeting. Additionally, there was no public hearing or survey of vendors regarding the plans.

A Seoul government official said, "The region around Dongdaemun Stadium was a temporary space for vendors while the city was in the process of restoring Cheonggye Stream. After taking into consideration their situation as compared with that of other street vendors, we plan to map out rational measures," the official said, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.

Moon Seung-guk, Seoul city’s official in charge of the project, said, "We are now in discussions with the vendors; therefore, we could delay the demolition by March of next year."

In the meantime, the Seoul city government announced on May 10 that it will select eight domestic and overseas architects to build the park around Dongdaemun Stadium. After receiving a draft design for the park on August 10, the government said it will announce a winner shortly thereafter, which means the vendors around Dongdaemun Stadium that will be displaced by the new park must quickly find a new home.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]