Seoul mayor vows to renegotiate marathon routes from scratch after weekend traffic chaos

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon said Monday he would renegotiate marathon courses and schedules "from scratch" after a weekend race brought major roads to a standstill and caused widespread disruption for residents.

Oh wrote on his SNS account that Sunday's marathon had blocked major roads across the city — from Gwanghwamun to Olympic Park and from Sangam to Yeouido. He said 190 city bus routes were forced onto detours, and even the alternative roads became gridlocked with vehicles.

"I take seriously the frustration and inconvenience our citizens must have felt on a precious weekend morning," Oh wrote. He acknowledged that the marathon is "a festival runners have waited all year for," but apologized, saying the city had repeatedly asked organizers to adjust the course to minimize disruption yet ultimately failed to prevent large-scale traffic problems.

Oh said the city would renegotiate next year's event course and schedule from the ground up. He noted that Seoul had drawn up marathon guidelines earlier this year and cut the number of city-sponsored races from 15 last year to seven — a reduction of more than half. The city also moved start times to before 7:30 a.m., capped participant numbers by venue, and brought forward the time traffic controls on half-course routes are lifted — from 11:30 a.m. last year to between 10:30 and 11 a.m. this year.

Despite those efforts, Oh said, the number of centrally government-sponsored races surged from one last year to 23 this year, pushing the total number of major road closures in Seoul past 30 this year. "It would be hard to find another major city that closes downtown roads for marathons this frequently," he said.

Oh noted that marathons do not require municipal permits and that road-closure authority rests with the police, leaving the city with limited power to act alone. He called on event sponsors and organizers to weigh the inconvenience to residents when deciding whether to hold races. He added that Seoul would work with the central government, police and event organizers to develop fundamental solutions. "The roads belong to the citizens, and we will see this through to reduce their inconvenience," he said.