Known for its picturesque and well-preserved traditional Korean houses called “hanok,” Bukchon Hanok Village is one of Seoul’s most popular tourist hot spots – attracting thousands of visitors every day. But tourists greatly outnumber residents and complaints about noise, littering and privacy issues in the vicinity have escalated over the years. Located in the Jongno district in downtown Seoul, Bukchon sits near other cultural landmarks like the Jongmyo royal ancestral shrine and the grand Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung palaces. In a bid to ease tensions and control crowds, district officials will start to restrict tourist access to the popular village from as early as October this year. Out-of-control tourists have been especially problematic in Kyoto, one of Japan’s most popular tourist cities, famed for its iconic Gion geisha district.

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Persons: Rhee Soo, Lee Youn, ” Lee, Overtourism, Sindere, “, ”, Emma Hägg Organizations: South Korea CNN, CNN, Tourists Locations: Seoul, South Korea, throngs, Jongno, Bukchon, South Korea’s, Korea, Barcelona, Italy’s, Venice, Japan, Mount Fuji, Kyoto, Sweden, Swedish