The Seoul Metropolitan Government has formalized "night economy revitalization" as the first core growth strategy of the ninth popularly elected administration, launching a comprehensive policy package that includes creating a special adviser, a task force, and a dedicated team, along with coexistence special zones and moonlight night markets. Within this month, the city will also establish a dedicated night economy team within its Economic Affairs Office to build a system for continuously managing and planning "Seoul at night."
According to reporting compiled by Seoul Economic Daily on the 19th, the city has put the night economy front and center against a backdrop of sluggish domestic demand, struggling neighborhood commercial districts, rising foreign tourist numbers, and shifting urban consumption patterns. Currently, 80 to 90 percent of all businesses in Seoul are self-employed operators and small merchants, and their share of employment reaches around 20 percent. Sales that plunged during COVID-19 have partly recovered since, but with high interest rates, rising prices, and the added burden of rent and labor costs, many point out that recovery has been slow for a considerable number of neighborhood districts, except for a few thriving "hot places." Given Seoul's employment structure, which relies heavily on self-employment and services, this inevitably has a negative impact on creating quality jobs for young people.
By contrast, with the spread of K-pop and K-culture, tourism has moved beyond recovery into a phase of expansion. In 2023, Seoul announced its "3377 Tourism City" policy—30 million foreign tourists annually, 3 million won in per-capita spending, an average stay of seven days, and a 70 percent revisit rate—outlining its vision to become a global tourism city. According to Korea Tourism Organization statistics, 18.94 million foreign tourists visited Korea last year, a record high that surpassed the pre-pandemic figure for 2019 of about 17.5 million. However, according to analysis by the Nabi Budget Research Institute, per-capita spending by foreign tourists rose 78.6 percent from about 1.5 million won in 2018 to about 2.69 million won in 2024, while the length of stay increased by only 0.085 days compared with 2019. Many foreign tourists pass through Seoul or choose it as their main destination, showing a marked concentration in the greater Seoul area, but their spending still tends to cluster in a few areas such as Myeong-dong, Hongdae, Gangnam, and Seongsu, and during daytime hours.
The city's view is that extending these consumption patterns into the evening and night hours could create new revenue without cannibalizing existing commercial districts. Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said, "If tourists only enjoy and spend during the day, that is only half a success," adding, "Only when Seoul's night economy is alive and breathing can we capture the other half." The city believes that because the employment-inducement coefficient of the culture and tourism industry is three to five times higher than that of manufacturing, revitalizing the night economy will contribute not only to recovering sales in neighborhood districts but also to expanding jobs in the service and content sectors, including for young people.
In fact, major overseas cities are already using the night economy as a strategy for urban competitiveness. London in the United Kingdom operates a "Night Czar" and a "Night Time Commission," combining expanded late-night subway service, support for cultural events, and mediation of resident disputes. Amsterdam in the Netherlands is cited as a case that has fostered its night economy by becoming the world's first to introduce a "Night Mayor," mediating nighttime conflicts over noise, public safety, and business regulations. Asian cities such as Tokyo, Japan, are also pursuing strategies that combine late-night transportation with nighttime tourism. In these cities, assessments hold that the night economy simultaneously boosts tourism revenue, gross regional domestic product (GRDP), and youth employment in the culture and service sectors.
Referring to these overseas cases, Seoul plans to move quickly to institutionalize a "Seoul-style night economy model." However, as nighttime consumption grows, problems with noise, garbage, and pedestrian safety may arise together, and resident pushback is also expected in areas where residential and commercial zones are mixed. Accordingly, some point out that safety, late-night transportation, mediation of conflicts between residents and merchants, and region-specific strategies must be pursued together.
Seoul plans to concentrate its policy capacity on overhauling a regulatory system designed around "daytime standards," such as business-hour limits and outdoor business regulations, and on preparing comprehensive measures that bundle in late-night transportation, public safety, and conflict mediation. Mayor Oh said, "The reason Seoul's night economy could not spread its wings was because of regulations trapped in a 'daytime worldview,'" adding, "We will boldly strip away uniform business-hour limits and burdensome outdoor business regulations to make Seoul a 'city that moves 24 hours a day.'"
