After Seoul’s Dongdaemun District canceled its approval for the ‘Seoul Hangang Ultramarathon’, complaints from participants and citizens are mounting.

Dongdaemun District said it notified the organizer on the afternoon of the 14th that the event approval was canceled. This measure followed the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Future Hangang Headquarters stating it was an “event that had not obtained approval to use Hangang Park” and declaring it would file a criminal complaint if the organizer pressed ahead with the race.

After the news spread, posts such as “How will refunds be processed?”, “Let’s gather those who will take legal action” appeared one after another on the event’s online board. Earlier, a post also claimed that upon requesting a refund, the poster was told by the organizer that refunds were not possible.

Now in its fourth year, the Seoul Hangang Ultramarathon was slated to start at 5 p.m. on the 16th from Jangan 1 Riverside Park in Dongdaemun District, Seoul, and cover the area around Ttukseom Hangang Park in Gwangjin District. The distances are 100㎞ and 50㎞, and roughly 1,500 people had registered. The event is hosted by the ‘Seoul Hangang Ultramarathon Organizing Committee’ and run by the ‘Ultramarathon 100-Time Club’.

The controversy erupted after it became known that, although Ttukseom Hangang Park was included in the course, the organizer had not gone through the formal procedures required to use Hangang Park. To hold a marathon event in Hangang Park with more than 500 participants, one must apply to the Future Hangang Headquarters to use the venue and obtain approval.

To do so, detailed event plans and a safety plan must be submitted in March (for events in the second half of the same year) and in September (for events in the first half of the following year). However, it was confirmed that the organizer did not submit an official venue-use application for this race. It is also reported that last year’s race went ahead without formal approval from the Future Hangang Headquarters.

Earlier that day, the Future Hangang Headquarters stated in a position paper that “pressing ahead with a large-scale night marathon without the headquarters’ approval is an irresponsible act that seriously threatens pedestrian safety,” adding, “we plan to file a criminal complaint against the organizer on suspicion of violating the River Act.”