Peeing On The Floor, Pooping At UNESCO Heritage Site — Tourists Spark Fury In Korea With Allegedly Menacing Behavior

On October 9, KST, JTBC’s popular show, Scandal Supervisor, featured stories of alleged acts of vandalism by Chinese tourists in South Korea, sparking heated reactions from viewers.

The episode featured a certain Mr. A, who runs a barbecue restaurant in a metropolitan area. He recalled that on September 6, at around 9:30 pm KST, seven Chinese customers entered his restaurant. While he was in the kitchen, two of them lit cigarettes inside the dining area despite being warned that smoking indoors was not allowed. They reportedly responded by saying that they were from China and proceeded to ignore the warning. According to Mr. A, some of them even hid their cigarettes under the table, put them out directly on the tables, and even spat on the floor.

Mr. A claimed that when he went out to the dining area, he saw cigarette butts that were still lit and spit splattered on the ground. When the tourists were forced out of the restaurant for closing, they allegedly vandalized the restroom by urinating on the floors and even damaging the toilet.

In a separate incident, which reportedly took place on the same day, another Chinese tourist was caught on camera, making her child defecate openly on the ground at the Yongmeori Coast in Seogwipo, Jeju. The site, a natural monument, is also a UNESCO heritage site. A witness posted a photo of a woman holding her child while squatting down, and wrote that she let the child relieve themselves right on the ground. The tourist allegedly walked away afterward, even leaving the wet tissues she had used on the ground.

The witness also claimed that the guide, who appeared to be ethnically Chinese-Korean, didn’t stop the woman from making her child defecate openly.

These incidents have added to the already growing frustration about tourist misconduct across South Korea. The fact that one of the instances was covered by JTBC, a prominent South Korean broadcaster, has highlighted how serious the public sentiment is regarding such behavior. While some netizens have resorted to ethnicity-based name-calling, authorities are urging foreigners to do better and respect the public spaces of South Korea.