Oh Sehoon: “I Will Personally Oversee Seoul’s Night Economy… Creating Jobs and Transforming into a Global G3 Tourism City”

Creating Night Attractions in Each District, Selection of ‘Dalbit Yajang’
Targeting KRW 3 Million in Spending per Foreign Tourist
“Tearing Down Barriers of Regulation and Bureaucracy”... Emphasizing One Team

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon has announced his intention to take an active role in revitalizing Seoul’s night-time economy. His vision is to create a new driving force for growth by supporting neighborhood businesses and stimulating tourism spending through the night economy.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is giving a remarks at the 'Regular Executive Meeting for Nighttime Economy Revitalization' held at Seoul City Hall on the 15th. Provided by Seoul City

On July 15, Mayor Oh stated on his Facebook page, “If tourists only enjoy and spend during the daytime, that is only half the success. The other half can only be captured when the night economy is vibrant and alive.” [Related Article = “Turning Seoul’s Night into an Economy”... Selection of ‘Dalbit Yajang’ with up to KRW 2.5 billion in support]

Mayor Oh pointed out that while neighborhood shopping districts have been struggling recently, global cities have found breakthroughs by boosting their night economies, citing examples like Amsterdam, London, and Tokyo. He explained, “Cities that have successfully established their night economies have seen their Gross Regional Domestic Product (GRDP) rise and youth employment grow significantly.”

He emphasized, “The night economy is not merely about nightlife and entertainment. It is a comprehensive strategy that weaves together content, commercial districts, transportation, and security.” He announced plans to discover night-time attractions in each of Seoul’s 25 districts, to invigorate local alleys through the creation of ‘Dalbit Yajang’, and to introduce a ‘Night Mayor’—a dedicated figure to help resolve conflicts associated with the night economy.

Through these efforts, Oh pledged to usher in an era with 20 million foreign tourists by the end of this year. He further promised to transform Seoul into a ‘3377 Tourism City’, hosting 30 million annual visitors who each spend KRW 3 million and stay for over 7 days, ultimately making Seoul a top three global city.

Mayor Oh pointed out that the main reason Seoul’s night economy has not flourished is due to regulations based on the “daytime worldview.” He criticized uniform operating hour limits and stringent outdoor business restrictions, noting that applying daytime standards to the night economy has blocked paths to growth.

He also mentioned Amsterdam, which was the first city in the world to introduce the Night Mayor system, explaining that the role was created as an operational control tower to find solutions that would balance both vibrant night life and citizen safety.

He stressed that the first step to revitalizing the night economy is to boldly dismantle outdated regulations, encouraging city officials to break down bureaucratic silos and work as ‘One Team’.

Mayor Oh declared, “For at least the next six months, I will personally prioritize the revitalization of the night economy as the city’s most important initiative. The ‘One Team Seoul’ will keep pushing forward until money circulates through our alleyways and youth jobs overflow with vitality.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.