Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks at a regular senior staff meeting on nighttime economy revitalization held at Seoul City Hall on Wednesday. [Yonhap]
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks at a regular senior staff meeting on nighttime economy revitalization held at Seoul City Hall on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon on Wednesday signaled a push to ease regulations constraining the city's nighttime economy, saying the sector had been held back by rules built around a daytime worldview.

Oh made the remarks in a Facebook post titled "I will develop Seoul's night into a new economic gold mine."

"Uniform restrictions on business hours and burdensome outdoor-operation rules have blocked the path to growth by judging nighttime economic activity by daytime standards," he said. "Amsterdam faced the same dilemma when it became the world's first city to introduce a night mayor." He added that the city had established a command structure to break down the barriers where daytime regulations clash with nighttime realities, and to find solutions that protect both the vitality of the night and the safety of residents. "Our first task in revitalizing the nighttime economy will be to boldly sweep away the outdated regulations that stand in the way of expanding our worldview," he said.

Oh said cities around the world had found a breakthrough through nighttime economy initiatives. "Amsterdam, London and Tokyo have expanded their nighttime economic territory to strengthen urban competitiveness and create new jobs," he said. "Cities that have successfully established a nighttime economy have seen their gross regional domestic product rise and youth employment grow significantly."

"In the last local elections, I took note of this and pledged to citizens to revitalize Seoul's nighttime economy," he said. "If tourists only enjoy and spend money during the day, that is only half a success. The other half can only be captured when the nighttime economy is fully alive." He went on to say that the cultural and tourism industries set to drive that second half have an employment-inducement coefficient three to five times higher than that of manufacturing. "Ultimately, the quality jobs newly created will go to our youth," he said.

"The nighttime economy is not merely about eating and drinking at night," Oh said, describing it as a comprehensive strategy linking content, commercial districts, transportation and public safety — encompassing the discovery of nighttime attractions across all 25 autonomous districts, the creation of "moonlit outdoor markets" to breathe life into alleyways, late-night transit improvements and the introduction of a night mayor to mediate nighttime conflicts. He said the city would harness this engine to usher in an era of 20 million foreign tourists by the end of this year, and ultimately aim to become a "3-3-7-7 tourism city" — where 30 million visitors a year each spend 3 million won ($2,010) and stay for at least seven nights — propelling Seoul into the ranks of the world's top three global cities.


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