A group of tourists was spotted setting up tables and drinking in a parking lot at a highway rest stop.
On the 22nd, a post titled "Tourists who took over the Jinyeong Rest Area parking lot and held a drinking party" was uploaded to an online community.
Poster A wrote, along with photos said to have been taken on the morning of the 21st in the parking lot of the Jinyeong Rest Area on the Namhae Expressway toward Suncheon, "They took over a tourist spot parking lot on a Sunday morning," adding, "It's not just a simple meal; if you look closely, you can see soju bottles."
The poster continued, "Judging by the fact that it wasn't just one or two vehicles, it seems like a long-standing practice, but seeing it for the first time makes me doubt whether this is Korea. A quick search shows that drinking in parking lots is said to be legally prohibited. With fall foliage season now, how much worse will it get?"
Under current law, there is no regulation that directly allows authorities to crack down on drinking and eating in rest area parking lots, so rest areas are responding only by carrying out their own guidance activities.