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In March of this year, a big fire broke out in the food alley in Majang-dong, Seoul, where there are many meat restaurants, and 9 stores were burned.

Four months have passed since then, and the site is still the same as it was then.



Reporter Ha Jeong-yeon covered the site as to why neither restoration nor demolition was possible.



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As you enter the narrow alley, one side of the alley is completely blocked.



It surrounds the stores that were burned down in a fire last March, and if you look inside, it is just as it was swept away by the fire.



Stores that have been burned have been left unattended for four months in a burnt state.



It is surrounded by such high fences, and there are warning signs posted here and there stating that if you occupy it without permission, you may be prosecuted.



The fire site of the Majang-dong Food Alley, which has not been restored or demolished for four months.



The food alley, which is a public property, was created during the 1988 Seoul Olympics when the government moved some residents to clean up the Majang-dong cattle slaughterhouse.



All 33 stores are unlicensed buildings, and they have been doing business here for as long as 40 years, paying compensation for unauthorized occupancy to the ward office.



This situation changed after the fire.



There were complaints from the residents that the entire alley should be demolished.



Merchants are against it, and the ward office is taking measures, but it has been at a standstill for 4 months.



Merchants have children.



[Food Alley Merchant: You spend the money you have and live as it is, what do you do now?

That's why they're all trying to die.]



[Food Alley Merchant: I've been doing this only here for decades, but what are you going to do?

Dates go by]



[Food Alley Merchant: You can't even touch ten won for months like this, so you're going to die.]



Residents also complain of frustration and discomfort.



[Nearby residents: It is illegal there, so we put in a lot of complaints for safety and hygiene.

The interior needs to be removed quickly, but it is left unattended.

.]



[Neighborhood residents: To be honest, I was very scared when there was a fire.

It's really insecure when you're close.

Because I have a baby.]



The ward office has set a goal of persuading merchants to demolish and relocate the entire alley by the end of this year, but has not yet secured a replacement site.



Some of these are also residential areas where merchants live, making it difficult to forcibly demolish them.



The ward office's position is to continue to persuade merchants with loan support.



It is pointed out that related organizations such as the Seoul Metropolitan Government must also come together in order to resolve complicated conflicts and come up with a solution.



(Video coverage: Kim Se-kyung, Choi Dae-woong, video editing: Yoon Tae-ho)