“They block off every road, and it’s chaos every weekend” ... Kian84 also angered by downtown marathons

[Financial News] Fueled by a domestic running boom, marathon and running events are springing up across downtown areas every weekend, prompting growing frustration among residents who complain of severe traffic congestion. Amid the backlash, webtoon artist and broadcaster Kian84 (real name Kim Hee-min), a running enthusiast who has completed a full marathon, has also spoken out about the side effects of road closures in the city center.
In a video released on his YouTube channel Insaeng 84 on the 19th, Kian84 met fellow actor Kwon Hwa-woon and brought up the recent spate of running events. He takes running seriously enough to cover at least 150 kilometers a month. “There are so many marathons in Seoul that the roads get terribly congested on weekends,” he said. “I’m worried that blocking off all the roads will make ordinary people think badly of running itself.” Kwon agreed, saying, “The World Cup isn’t held every week either, is it?” He added, “Rather than holding events indiscriminately, we need to focus on major races and be selective.”
As they pointed out, roads in central Seoul have recently been plagued by marathon events. According to data submitted to Lee Sang-sik, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Public Administration and Security Committee, by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the number of marathons for which the city approved the use of start and finish locations surged from 53 in 2024 to 94 in 2025 and 117 in 2026—more than doubling in just two years.
The number of races involving large-scale road closures also rose from 16 in 2024 to 37 this year. As a result, the number of times Seoul city buses—an essential means of transport for residents—were diverted surged from 666 in 2024 to 1,446 in 2025, and had already reached 801 by the end of the first half of this year (June). In particular, in October, during the fall season, three or four races are being held simultaneously on a single weekend day, repeatedly bringing major thoroughfares such as those in Gwanghwamun, Yeouido and Sangam to a standstill.
Criticism is mounting that, behind the stated goal of promoting leisure culture, ordinary residents’ rights to walk and travel are being infringed.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government has taken steps to ease traffic disruption, sharply cutting the number of races it sponsors from 15 last year to seven. It also introduced “Marathon Event Operating Guidelines” in January this year and is implementing additional measures, including encouraging races to start before 7:30 a.m. and road restrictions to be lifted around 10 a.m., as well as limiting attendance at major venues such as Gwanghwamun Square and Yeouido Park.

However, events sponsored by the central government and private organizers—which fall outside local governments’ control—continue to proliferate, prompting calls for an effective cap on the total number of races and urgent measures to spread events across different routes.


[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter