In Insadong, Jongno District, Seoul, there are no bars selling imported liquor unrelated to traditional culture, such as wine bars or whiskey bars. Because Insadong is designated as a "cultural district," businesses unrelated to traditional culture cannot open stores.
But recently, Jongno District has been pushing a plan to allow some business types that had been restricted from moving into Insadong to open stores. Public reaction is split, with some saying, "We need to preserve the traditional culture street," and others saying, "Traditional culture will survive only if the Insadong commercial district comes back to life."
◇ Insadong, the nation's first "cultural district"… Restricting entry by designating recommended and limited business types
Jongno District said on the 28th that on the 27th it held a "resident briefing session on the service for establishing a plan to amend the Insadong cultural district management plan" at the Jongno 1·2·3·4-dong community service center.
Insadong was designated as a cultural district in 2004, the first in the country, to preserve traditional culture. Jongno District must manage Insadong by drawing up a management plan to protect and foster traditional culture-related business types. The reason there are many purely Korean-letter signs in Insadong is also because of the management plan.
Jongno District is pushing to amend the management plan next year. The direction is to ease some business-type regulations. Currently, bars, PC rooms and game arcades cannot open in the Insadong cultural district, and on the main street, cosmetics shops, bakeries and Chinese restaurants are also banned. Meanwhile, recommended business types such as ▲ antique shops (classical art) ▲ framing shops ▲ Hwarang ▲ brush and paper shops ▲ folk craft shops receive property tax and acquisition tax reductions.
At the briefing, a private company commissioned by Jongno District presented the draft amendment to the management plan. The company said that under current regulations, derivative business types that could strengthen traditional culture and the arts cannot move into Insadong, and proposed shifting regulations from business types to a content-centered approach. For example, while clothing stores other than traditional hanbok and daily hanbok are currently banned from opening on the main street, a specialty store for naturally dyed clothing would be allowed.
The draft amendment also includes allowing coffee shops, which are currently prohibited in the Insadong cultural district. While there are a few stores like Starbucks, they are exceptional cases that moved in before the regulations were introduced.
There were also arguments that regulations should be eased more than in the draft. Jongno District Council member Lee Ryungu said, "It shouldn't be only traditional pubs, set-course Korean restaurants and traditional tea houses that are allowed. Why not restaurants that can accommodate many people?" adding, "Korean 'origin whiskey' is so 'hot' among young people these days, it's strange to block it."
◇ "Insadong has become a place you just pass through on the way to Ikseon-dong" vs. "Thanks to regulations, tradition is maintained"
Lee works as an employee at a brush-and-paper shop (筆房) in Insadong. Lee explained that even when university students majoring in traditional culture hold graduation exhibitions, they go elsewhere because Insadong does not have proper restaurants.
Lee also said that with pubs such as wine bars and whiskey bars banned except for traditional pubs, young people have come to see Insadong as merely "a place you pass through to get to the Ikseon-dong commercial district." Lee added, "With no young people flowing into Insadong, cultural asset repair experts in their 70s and 80s are unable to pass down their skills."
On the other hand, there were also arguments that the current regulations should not be relaxed. Shin Soyun, head of the Insadong Traditional Culture Preservation Association, said, "Tradition has been maintained in Insadong because it has been bound (by regulations) for more than 20 years."
Opinions among Insadong visitors were also divided. Julia, 23, an exchange student who came to Korea from the United Kingdom, said, "I heard Insadong is the place with the strongest Korean color. I hope this scene continues." By contrast, a 38-year-old office worker surnamed Ahn who commutes to and from Jongno said, "Insadong is a dull place," adding, "There's no particular reason to come. It would be nice to have a wider variety of stores."
Jongno District plans to collect public opinion and then announce the final management plan.