Seonheul-2-ri, Jocheon-eup in Jeju-si is designated as a UNESCO World Natural Heritage village. At the entrance to the quiet rural village hangs a banner reading, "What Is an Automated Motel Doing in a Natural Heritage Village?" On July 31, Bak Sang-seop, the village head of Seonheul-2-ri said, "Visitors frequent our village because of the nearby Geomunoreum, which is designated as a World Natural Heritage. If an automated motel opens for business by the village entrance, the image we have established as an eco-village will nose dive."

Automated motels are suddenly popping up throughout the Jeju area. The island of Jeju announced that there are eight automated motels currently in business and that seven more are either under construction or undergoing a review for their construction permit.


An automated motel is a motel which receives guests only with the images from a closed circuit camera. Once the guests park their cars, the door to the designated parking space closes, so there is no need for guests to come into contact with the motel staff. Guests prefer automated motels to ordinary motels since they don't have to meet the employees. Naturally, automated motels have acquired a bad name, often being linked to extramarital affairs and indecent teen activities, triggering complaints from local residents.

Meonmulggak in Camellia Garden, a Ramsar wetland in Seonheul-1-ri in Jocheon-eup, Jeju-si, which will be designated as the world's first Ramsar model village / Yonhap News

Since 2-3 years ago, automated motels started emerging on large roads where people could easily spot them. The automated motel under construction at Seonheul-2-ri is located right by a bus stop at the village entrance. Bak said, "The motel is located 199.4 meters away from the Seonheul Branch School and is on the road students pass by to get to school. We visited the Jeju government and the local office of education and filed a complaint and submitted a petition, but they just keep telling us that legally there is nothing wrong. It's frustrating."


Yusuam-ri in Aewol-eup, Jeju-si is a green farming village where people from the city can experience farming first hand, but it is also suffering from an automated motel. The motel is located near Pyeonghwa-ro, which leads to the Korea Racing Authority's race course. After the motel opened in 2010, three more similar motels were built within a 200 meter radius. Residents of Yusuam-ri said, "What will people think about our rural tourism village when there are automated motels in operation here? It's embarrassing to see the students who visit our village to experience nature."


An official from the Jeju government said, "There is no business classified as an automated motel, and the purpose is the same as ordinary accommodations, so they are not subject to legal restrictions." All eyes are on the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Council's plans to revise an ordinance to restrict the construction of automated motels. The provincial council heralded revisions to the urban planning ordinance to exclude lodgings less than 4 stories tall, with a total floor area of less than 660m2 among the buildings which can be built in areas where the government controls development. In other words, they will ban the construction of roadside automated motels.


Yi Jeong-min, a policy advisor in the Jeju provincial council said, "There are even rumors that people can enjoy a return on investments in just a year. We need a device to suppress the mushrooming of automated motels."