Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on the 22nd visited the Yongsan Electronics Market's Najin and Seonin arcades, where a redevelopment project is underway, to hear the difficulties of merchants, store owners, and local residents and to review the direction of development linked with the Yongsan International Business District.
At a roundtable with merchants, store owners, and residents of the Yongsan Electronics Market on the morning of the same day, Mayor Oh said, "Because the Yongsan Electronics Market is an area linked to the Yongsan International Business District, where global corporations gather, we will foster this area as a core hub for new industries."
The Yongsan Electronics Market enjoyed a boom in the 1990s as PCs became widespread, but in the 2000s, with changes in industry trends such as the rise of mobile devices and online shopping and with aging facilities, the commercial vitality fell sharply. The city previously prepared an improvement plan to revitalize the commercial district around the Yongsan Electronics Market by lifting existing regulations that allowed development only as a large-scale electronics specialty market and by changing it to an area where mixed-use development for office, commercial, and residential is possible on the condition of mandating 30% for new-industry use.
A merchant at Seonin Arcade said at the roundtable, "As distribution networks have been concentrated in large online shopping malls, there are hardly any visitors on weekends or weekdays, and sales have dropped by nearly 50%," adding, "Please thoroughly discuss measures for merchants, such as relocation and affordable rental space, that we have safeguarded for over 40 years."
Mayor Oh said, "We will keep discussion channels wide open so that not only the development pace but also each person's business loss can be minimized, and we will prioritize supporting your voices." He also said, "As the electronics market area begins preparing for the future, tenants and those who own stores have likely felt many inconveniences and difficulties due to old buildings and vacancy rates," adding, "If you tell us what is needed administratively, we will look into it closely."