4 p.m. on the 8th, Hoehyeon-dong, Jung District, Seoul, at the Namsan Cable Car station. About 30 foreign tourists got off a tour bus and moved to board the cable car. The empty bus headed not to a parking lot but to the roadside next to Baekbeom Square.
When the bus stopped and turned off its engine along the roadside where cars were supposed to pass, 10 vehicles following behind hit their brakes at once. Horns blared loudly on the road. A person surnamed Kim (38), a citizen who was about to cross the street, said, "There are many cases where buses are parked on both sides of the crosswalk, and you cannot see at all whether cars are coming. I am always anxious because it feels like an accident could happen."
◇ With the "K-de-hun" craze, 80% of Namsan Cable Car riders are foreigners
The area around the Namsan Cable Car station is crowded every day with tourists trying to use the cable car. Recently, it has become even more congested as foreign tourists surged after Namsan Seoul Tower appeared in the Netflix animation "K-Pop Demon Hunters." According to the Seoul city government, the number of visitors to Seoul Tower in Jul. was 52,580, up about 20% from a year earlier.
It is not that there are no parking lots at all around Namsan. According to the Seoul city government and the Korea Association of Travel Agents on the 14th, there are 36 on-street parking spaces where buses can park for free near the cable car station: 12 on Sowol-ro, 21 on Sofa-ro, and 2 in front of the station.
However, more tour buses crowd in than can be accommodated. Around 5 p.m. that day, 16 buses were standing on Sowol-ro, which can hold up to 12, and 23 buses were on Sofa-ro, three more than the designated spaces. Buses parked outside the marked spaces were also standing on steep slopes or sharp bends, appearing to pose a risk of colliding with other vehicles.
◇ "Parking space is short, and the existing lots are poorly managed"
Tour bus drivers said the reason for illegal parking and standing is "a severe shortage of parking space." A person surnamed Kim (55) said, "The parking crunch has grown serious as foreign tourists have increased recently," adding, "Hundreds of buses come and go in a day, but the permitted parking can handle only dozens, so it is far too little."
Starting on the 29th, the number of Chinese tour groups receiving visa-free benefits is expected to increase. The shortage of tour bus parking and illegal parking and standing problems appear likely to worsen.
Management is also poor. Among the buses parked in the designated area were three passenger cars secretly left there. Some buses, after picking up foreign tourists whose schedules have ended, do not move on to the next stop and instead remain in the parking area for hours. A bus driver, a person surnamed Cho (55), said, "Vehicles headed to Namdaemun Market or Sungnyemun, regular passenger cars, and even long-term parked buses take up the Namsan bus parking area."
◇ 100 million won to create one bus parking space
One bus driver said, "Foreign tourists look around the Namsan summit and Namsan Tower for about two to three hours, and if I park the bus more than 20 minutes away, I often fail to get back in time to pick them up," adding, "It is better to risk illegal parking and standing nearby here."
The Seoul city government is aware of the problem but says securing additional parking is not easy. According to the city, including securing the site, the expense to create one parking space comes to about 100 million won.
A Seoul city official said, "Securing land is not easy, but we are planning a 23-space parking lot on the site of the Hoehyeon Citizens' Apartments (close to the cable car station)," adding, "If construction starts in Dec. this year, work could be completed by 2027."