[On the Ground] "Drink and face a 50,000-won fine"... How effective is Seoul Station's no-drinking zone?

From November 9, Seoul Station Plaza becomes an "alcohol-free zone"
Draw a line and say, "Drink here"
The balloon effect widens gaps in oversight
"Treatment and welfare support are more urgent than regulation"

Below the steps at Seoul Station Plaza on October 30. Seven men sat in a circle on the ground, sharing Makgeolli. Each had a different reason for coming to Seoul Station. Some had ended their lives on the streets and found housing, but returned to Seoul Station because they could not bear the loneliness. Others were willing to become self-reliant but faced institutional barriers and continued to struggle with loneliness.

Lee Byeongam, 67, who said he had lived on the streets for 40 years, sighed and said, "For people like us, alcohol is the only thing we can rely on." Mr. Kim, in his 50s, said, "People around me tell me I'd be better off not earning money at all because my basic livelihood benefits will be cut off if I go to work," adding, "With nothing to do, we end up getting together to drink." Nam Seonwoo, 62, said he had gone to the hospital for a long-standing illness but was refused treatment because he was homeless, and that he eases his distress with alcohol.

At around 8:30 a.m. on the 30th of last month, seven men gathered to drink on the pedestrian walkway directly beneath the Seoul Station sign. Homeless people living on the streets who were met here said the spot is just outside the boundary of an area set to be designated a no-drinking zone. Photo by Lee Jiye.

According to Jung-gu and Yongsan-gu in Seoul on November 3, the two districts plan to designate the area around Seoul Station Plaza as a no-drinking zone starting November 9. Jung-gu will designate 13,283 square meters of outdoor space around Seoul Station Plaza and the station, while Yongsan-gu will designate approximately 6,570 square meters, including the area in front of Seoul Station and its western surroundings. After a period of public outreach and guidance, a fine of 50,000 won will be imposed starting in March 2027 on anyone caught drinking in the designated zone. Public support for the designation is also high. In a survey of 1,238 people using the plaza conducted by Jung-gu, 96.4% supported the designation. In a survey by Yongsan-gu, 85.2% of the 283 respondents expressed support.

However, it remains unclear whether designating Seoul Station Plaza as a no-drinking zone will actually solve the problem of public drinking. Seoul 7017, the Seoul Station underpass, subway entrances, and indoor facilities such as restaurants in the plaza are excluded from the zone. This means that drinkers would no longer be subject to fines simply by moving to another location near the plaza. There are particular concerns that if drinkers gather in the underpass, which is routinely used by the public as a passageway, safety risks and inconvenience could increase.

Mr. Kim, an office worker in his 30s who commutes through the Seoul Station underpass, said, "Even now, there are times when I feel uneasy walking past people who are drinking. It would be even scarier if they came down from the plaza into the underpass to drink. Won't this just create another place that people avoid?"

Homeless people also agreed that designating a no-drinking zone would be unlikely to solve the problem. Mr. Lee, a homeless man, pointed to the area beneath a vertical outdoor sign in front of the Seoul Station building and said, "This area is exempt from enforcement." He added, "They tell us to drink outside the boundary of the steps, but I don't see what difference it makes whether we're here or there." He said he was worried that moving to the underpass or outside the plaza to avoid enforcement could expose people to more dangerous conditions. Pointing to a dark underpass near the plaza, Mr. Lee said, "People who can't even understand one another gather there to drink. If someone gets upset, bottles start flying. Just yesterday, a homeless man was injured in a fight and taken to the hospital."

If drinking shifts to other locations, confusion could also arise over who is responsible for managing those areas. Seoul Station Plaza is divided between the jurisdictions of Jung-gu and Yongsan-gu, while Korail manages the inside of the station, so responsibility varies from one space to another. An official from Jung-gu said, "If drinkers go inside the station, Korail or the relevant complaint-handling office will respond. For now, our goal is to prevent drinking in outdoor spaces."

On the morning of the 30th of last month, Nam Seonwoo, 62, who says he has lived on the streets for 47 years, sits with a bottle of alcohol beside him on one side of the steps at Seoul Station Plaza. Complaining of pain in his fingers and knees, Nam said, "I drink to ease the pain." Photo by Lee Jiye.

Questions have also been raised about whether fines can be effectively collected. Even if homeless people living on the streets are fined 50,000 won, collecting the money may prove difficult. Failure to pay a fine does not immediately stop someone from drinking, and people without the means to pay may remain in arrears for a long time. In particular, the statute of limitations on the right to collect a fine generally expires if it is not exercised for five years. As a result, there may be cases in which fines are imposed but cannot be collected, leaving the unpaid amounts to be written off as uncollectible.

Experts said that simply restricting where people can drink will not address the underlying problem when the hardships of life on the streets lead to drinking. They said that designating no-drinking zones should go hand in hand with treatment for alcohol dependence and medical and welfare support. Jeong Soon-dool, a professor in the Department of Social Welfare at Ewha Womans University, said, "Fining people who cannot afford to pay will have no practical effect," emphasizing that "rather than focusing on regulation, we need treatment and welfare support that take the realities faced by homeless people into account."

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