![Interior and Safety Minister Yoon Ho-jung inspects illegal occupation facilities along Insu Stream in Ui-dong, Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, on the 23rd. [Photo provided by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety]](https://image.ajunews.com/content/image/2026/04/23/20260423153153220156.jpg)
Insu Stream in Seoul’s Gangbuk district has long been packed during peak outing season, with platforms crowded by visitors and sunshades strung overhead, leaving the waterway constricted and the valley effectively turned into a commercial space.
On the morning of the 23rd, Yoon Ho-jung, South Korea’s minister of the interior and safety, visited the Insu Stream area in Ui-dong. The scene had changed, but the cleanup was not finished.
Yoon looked toward sections still being dismantled: where platforms and tents had been removed, marks remained from fixtures wedged between rocks, and some exposed concrete was still visible.
Officials said most illegal facilities such as tents and platforms had been taken out, but remaining structures and incomplete streambed restoration varied by section. No workers or heavy equipment were seen at the time, underscoring that work completed and work still pending existed side by side.
As Yoon walked downstream, he listened to a briefing from Kim Yong-gyun, head of the ministry’s Natural Disaster Management Office. “Major illegal temporary facilities are being removed, and we are now removing remaining structures while restoring the streambed,” Kim said.
“Is it cleaned up to here?” Yoon asked.
After being told progress differed by section and additional removal was planned, Yoon nodded. “If traces remain, (illegal facilities) will come back,” he said.
The work is part of the ministry’s policy to eradicate illegal activity along rivers and valley streams. Targets include not only illegal facilities such as tents and platforms, but also illegal buildings and structures in development-restricted zones, aiming to break repeated patterns of occupation.
According to Gangbuk-gu, 15 restaurants and three lodging businesses operate near Insu Stream. A recent full inspection found 10 cases of illegal activity. Illegal occupation facilities, centered on platforms and tents, totaled 305 cases; eight sites had repeated the same conduct in the past.
The district said it has completed corrective work at one site and is pursuing administrative measures at seven. The remaining two will undergo surveying to determine whether violations occurred.
Farther downstream, the changes were clearer. Areas once crowded with platforms were more open, though some concrete debris remained. “There’s still some left here,” Yoon said, and officials replied that removal of remaining structures would continue.
Along the stream, a deck walkway came into view. Some sections were already installed, with additional construction planned. Yoon stopped to look it over. “This is how the space needs to be organized,” he said.
Officials described the deck as more than a path: it is intended to clearly designate the cleared area for public use and to block illegal temporary structures from returning.
During the walk, officials also outlined follow-up management steps, including plans to install CCTV and conduct drone inspections. Yoon stressed that enforcement alone was not enough. “It can’t end with a crackdown,” he said.
After looking over the stream, rocks and remaining signs of work at the site where merchants and business facilities had been removed, Yoon said the area must stay as it is. “This condition has to be maintained. People must be made to understand that the losses from demolition and fines are greater than the profits gained through illegal activity,” he said.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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