Have public cigarette butt bins turned Hongdae into a smoky, smelly eyesore?

The streets of Hongdae in Mapo District, western Seoul, were bustling with tourists and locals enjoying the trendy neighborhood’s shopping, street performances and food scene on a Saturday afternoon.

The air was also visibly cloudy. Dust particles, suspected to be ash, stung this reporter’s eyes as a pungent, burnt odor lingered in the air.

This came as no surprise. Hongdae is notorious for its throngs of smokers along the alleys.

Dozens of smokers gathered around red, rectangular cigarette butt bins, which were stamped with the district office logo. Placed just a couple of feet apart, their ash-stained slots were almost like an invitation for a quick puff. Walking along the streets of Hongdae, secondhand smoke felt like an unwelcome party guest that refused to leave.

It was an odd sight, considering that many “No Smoking” signs were plastered on the walls in the streets. But nobody seemed to heed these signs. 

That is because these signs were not legally enforceable. They are mere endorsements by the Mapo Health Center, as the local district office does not prohibit smoking in Hongdae by law.

“I like to visit Hongdae whenever I get the chance since it has so many places to shop and escape rooms to visit,” said Seo Seung-won, a 24-year-old who lives in Daejeon. “But I was surprised at how so many people were smoking openly and how smelly the neighborhood was. It’s honestly a bit embarrassing because a lot of foreign tourists come to visit Hongdae, and I’m afraid that they’ll think the rest of Korea is like this.”

A littering problem

For years, the Mapo District Office has grappled with a littering problem in Hongdae.

Last year, a total of 58.16 million people, including 6.46 million foreigners, visited the Hongdae special tourist zone, dubbed the “Red Road,” which spans roughly 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) across Seogyo-dong, Sangsu-dong and Hapjeong-dong, according to data released by the district office last month. The number of foreign visitors skyrocketed more than 1,100 percent from 2022, when there were some 520,000.

As Hongdae continues to see growing crowds, the district office struggles to keep Hongdae’s streets clean due to litter, illegal advertisements and cigarette butts. When the Red Road initiative was established three years ago, the district office installed 75 ashtray bins and, in June 2024, designated the area a “special environmental maintenance zone” after expanding cleaning efforts and personnel.

“Before installing the ashtray bins, littering was a major problem,” the district office said in a press release on April 22. “Cigarette butts would pile up on downspouts and on the streets, causing damage to the street environment and increasing fire risks.”

It was after installing the bins that the littering issue died down. But a bigger one arose: Are the ashtray bins actually encouraging smoking in the area?

“There are families with children who also walk along that street, but there are too many smokers and people who spit on the ground,” a post from last September on a parenting community on Naver reads, with a comment below that adds, “It’s like people think it’s okay to smoke more in the streets because there are ashtray bins now.”

Out in the open

The Red Road is not designated a no smoking area because it’s classified as a regular, outdoor street.

Korean law mandates that mainly public indoor facilities, such as office buildings, schools, medical institutions, childcare centers, libraries, airports, restaurants and lodging facilities, comply with the National Health Promotion Act.

“Because outdoor streets aren’t enclosed, there’s also no scientific evidence to support the necessity to designate Red Road as a no-smoking zone,” Lee Sung-kyu, executive director of the Korea Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, told the Korea JoongAng Daily, when asked about the possibility of an ordinance for the streets of Hongdae.

“Lung cancer risks are heightened when secondhand smoke occurs in a closed-off space, but we don’t hear of cases where people suddenly get lung cancer because they passed by some smoke on the street. To non-smokers, it’s just the unpleasant smell that’s the problem.”

Korea has long faced a dilemma when it came to smoking rights: Smokers complain that there are too few designated areas, while non-smokers argue that officials aren’t cracking down enough.

In 2023, Seoul city council member Park Yu-jin said in a questioning session that “to protect the health rights of non-smokers, it is essential to first guarantee smokers’ rights.”

He suggested that ashtray bins need to be expanded across the city and that smokers need to be better informed on designated areas. At the time, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon agreed, but in reality, public opinion was sharply divided.

The Mapo District Office said that complaints have been conflicting — some demanded that the ashtray bins be removed entirely, while others urged that more bins be placed on the streets.

Bins for the win? Or not.

The Mapo District Office is considering rearranging the ashtray bins to space them farther apart or to place them in areas with fewer pedestrians, a district official told the Korea JoongAng Daily, although nothing has been decided so far.

It has no immediate plans to designate specific smoking zones or install enclosed booths.

Lee argues that the smoking rights debate is not one that can be solved simply by installing ashtray bins or smoking booths; it needs to be approached from various angles. Examples include thorough on-site inspections and understanding the core smoking demographic of each area.

“There are multiple points to consider, such as whether the smoking zone is in a location where there’s relatively less foot traffic, less exposure to minors and maybe even the general wind direction,” he said.

“They should be where smokers can easily remember, like a parking lot,” he added. “These in-depth discussions are what help us attain a sustainable solution that works best for everyone.”

BY SHIN MIN-HEE [[email protected]]