Illegal vendor piled goods against restaurant wall before district office forced removal

Vendor vandalized shop exterior after enforcement action

Unrelated to this article. [AI-generated image]
Unrelated to this article. [AI-generated image]

A small-business owner in Jongno-gu, Seoul, who was days away from opening a new restaurant, found herself targeted by a nearby illegal street vendor — who threw waste at her shop and covered it in graffiti.

The vendor reportedly continued the vandalism even after police booked him without detention on charges of property destruction and obstruction of official duties.

The story of A, who said she had run restaurants for 30 years before attempting to open a new one in Jongno-gu, was featured on JTBC's crime affairs program "Sageon Banjang."

While interior renovation work was underway ahead of the opening, A received a call from her contractor on Thursday urging her to come to the shop immediately. When she arrived, she was stunned by what she found.

Waste had been splattered across the restaurant's exterior walls and entrance. After A filed a police report, officers told her the male suspect had already turned himself in. She asked police to increase patrols in the area. The following day, officers called her back, saying the situation was "more serious than yesterday," and asked her to come to the scene.

When she arrived, the entrance door and the space where the shop sign was to be hung had been covered in red spray paint, with phrases including "Get lost" scrawled across them.

"Everything was almost ready — I just needed to open the doors," A said. "I felt completely devastated."

Photos broadcast on the program showed a man wearing a traditional Korean gat around his neck and no shoes, spray-painting the restaurant entrance.

The suspect was identified as B, an illegal street vendor operating near the restaurant.

The conflict began when B illegally piled dolls, furniture, scrap metal and other items against the restaurant's exterior wall. When A asked him to remove them, B reportedly pushed back, saying it was public land and she had no right to tell him what to do with it.

The Jongno-gu district office issued multiple warnings, levied fines and ultimately carried out a forced removal of the illegally stored items.

During that process, B allegedly threw and smashed objects, injuring a district office employee, and police arrested him.

B is believed to have harbored a grudge against A, suspecting she was the one who had filed the complaint with the district office.

B has reportedly suffered from hoarding disorder and depression for a long time.

After the incidents, B was reportedly seen calmly setting up a meal table outdoors next to the restaurant and eating there.

"I was dumbfounded watching that," A said, adding that she could not hide her concern about another confrontation with B once she opens for business.


jshan@heraldcorp.com