Jeju Island Authority Issues Multi-language Appeals To Maintain Order

JAKARTA - Facing a surge in disordered tourist behavior, the authorities of Jeju Island, South Korea last month launched the first multilingual ethical appeal aimed at creating order on the resort island.

Jeju Provincial Police said they had scored 8,000 appeals in Korean, English, and Mandarin, in hopes of bridging cultural divides and helping foreign visitors understand local laws and customs.

The appeal warns visitors against minor violations ranging from crossing the street carelessly and littering to smoking in prohibited and drunk areas in public places to appeal to cooperation in maintaining order.

"Officers brought the appeal during patrols and distributed it when they found minor violations on the spot," an official at the Jeju Provincial Police Agency told The Korea Times as quoted September 18.

"Violations are immediately addressed, but for minor offenses, we usually issue an appeal instead of a more assertive measure," he added.

The official noted that warning for minor offenses, instead of imposing sanctions on the spot, could ease tensions with tourists and ease the burden on officers.

After years of disruption to the pandemic, Jeju, which has always been a tourist attraction due to its warm climate, has seen a sharp increase in the number of visitors, driven by a surge in foreign tourist arrivals.

The recovery of direct flights, especially from China, has proven important, with Chinese tourists now being the largest part of foreign tourists.

In contrast, domestic travel has decreased as more and more Koreans are looking for cheap holidays abroad, such as in Japan and Southeast Asia. However, the return of cruise ships and the increasing global profile of Jeju, which was partly driven by the spread of Korean pop culture, has helped push the number of visitors back to pre-pandemic levels.

Jeju has welcomed more than 7 million visitors this year, according to the Jeju Tourism Association. Of these, about 5.86 million are domestic tourists, down 9.3 percent from the previous year.

In contrast, the number of foreign tourist arrivals rose 14.2 percent to more than 1.16 million, with growth soaring in July, when the number of arrivals jumped more than 40 percent compared to the previous year.

Along with the surge in tourism, concerns about the behavior of tourists and public order have also increased.

Between March and June, the Jeju Provincial Police Agency carried out a special campaign targeting violations committed by foreign tourists.

During that period, officers recorded more than 4,800 cases of disordered behavior, including crossing the street carelessly, littering, and urinating carelessly.

Several viral cases have strengthened complaints about the poor behavior of tourists.

In April, a woman caught smoking on a bus threw her cigarette butts onto the street after another passenger objected. And last month, Korean media reported a boy urinating near a bus stop on Hamdek Beach in Jeju City in the midst of an adult accompanying him.

Realizing the increasing frustration, six students from Pyoseon Elementary School also sent suggestions last month to the Provincial website of the Special Jeju Independent Government regarding the promotion of better behavior among tourists.

In the proposal, the students showed no clear channel to report inappropriate behavior by tourists.