Curfew slated for Bukchon Hanok Village area to reduce tourist noise, trash

Bukchon Hanok Village is set to have a curfew for visitors starting in March next year, as the historic hanok (traditional houses) cluster struggles with large amounts of tourist traffic.

Tourists wearing hanbok (traditional Korean dress) roam Bukchon Hanok Village in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Nov. 23, 2023. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Bukchon Hanok Village is set to have a curfew for visitors starting in March next year, as the historic hanok (traditional houses) cluster struggles with overtourism.

Jongno District Office listed the village’s 1.128 million square meters (279 acres) of land, including parts of the Samcheong-dong and Gahoe-dong neighborhoods, as a "specially controlled area" under Korea's Tourism Promotion Act on Monday. The motion enables the district office to control the area's tourists, which it plans to do through three color-coded zones.

The red zone around Bukchon-ro 11-gil, where most hanok are located, draws the highest number of tourists. It will be closed to visitors from 5 p.m. to 10 a.m. every day. Those who break the regulation will be charged a fine of around 100,000 won ($72), the district office said.

Bukchon-ro 5ga-gil and a part of Gyedong-gil, where restaurants, cafes and some residential hanok are located, have been designated as orange zones, which do not have a curfew — but staff will be present to monitor activity.

Bukchon-ro 10-gil has been named a yellow zone, and district officials will be observing the area’s tourist flow and upgrade its zone status if necessary.

A trial run is set to start in October.

Jongno District is also working to restrict public buses inside Bukchon Hanok Village.

By January 2026, it plans to cut out bus stops along a 1.5-kilometer (0.9 miles) stretch of Bukchon-ro, beginning from Anguk Station to the entrance of Samcheong Park. The trial run is slated for July next year.

Residents of Bukchon Hanok Village in Jongno District, central Seoul, rally for tourist control in May 2018. [YONHAP]

The new tourist regulations follow years of complaints from Bukchon Hanok Village residents.

With the area seeing around 6.44 million tourists annually, the district office said that it received 202 resident complaints last year regarding bad tourist behavior in the village. This included visitors making too much noise, leaving garbage in the streets and illegally parking.

Some 6,100 locals live in the village, according to district data last year.

BY LEE JIAN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]