Can I set up a tent at Hangang Park?

Yes, but only a small tent (about 2 m × 2 m, at least two sides open) inside one of the 15 designated shade-tent zones, from March 1 to November 30. Normal hours are 09:00–19:00 (09:00–20:00 in June–August), and from September 1 to November 30, 2026 the city has temporarily extended them to 22:00. Picnic mats are fine anywhere, any time of year.

Is drinking beer allowed at Hangang Park?

Yes. Hangang Park is not an alcohol-free zone, so a beer with your chicken is legal. What gets fined (₩70,000) is being drunk and disorderly, loud or offensive enough to cause other people disgust or anxiety.

Can I order food delivery to Hangang Park?

Yes. Yeouido has 3 official delivery zones and Ttukseom has 2. Delivery scooters aren't supposed to ride into the park, so you collect your order at the zone and carry it to your spot.

Hangang Park Rules & Fines: Tents, Drinking, Delivery

Q: How much is the fine for camping or cooking at Hangang Park?

Camping or cooking outside a designated place is fined ₩1,000,000 the first time, ₩2,000,000 the second and ₩3,000,000 the third, under the Seoul Hangang Park ordinance. It's the biggest fine on the park's list. If you want to grill, book the barbecue zone at Nanji Campground.

The short answer

Mats: always fine. Tents: allowed with conditions. Only a small tent (about 2 m × 2 m, two sides open) inside the 15 designated zones, March 1 to November 30. Normal hours are 09:00–19:00 (09:00–20:00 in summer), temporarily extended to 22:00 from September 1 to November 30, 2026.
The biggest fine is for camping or cooking outside a designated place: ₩1,000,000, then ₩2,000,000, then ₩3,000,000. Grills and camping stoves belong at Nanji Campground.
Beer is legal. Hangang Park is not an alcohol-free zone. Being drunk and disorderly can cost ₩70,000.
Leaving your picnic trash behind is ₩100,000. Dropping litter or a cigarette butt is ₩30,000. An off-leash dog is ₩50,000, and not picking up after it is ₩70,000.
Delivery food is collected at official delivery zones: 3 at Yeouido and 2 at Ttukseom. Drones need approval everywhere except the Gwangnaru drone field.

The Han River parks are the most relaxed public space in Seoul: beer on the grass, chicken delivered to the riverbank, crowds past midnight. The rules are few but specific, and the one that really hurts costs ₩1,000,000.

All the amounts below come from the fine table in the 서울특별시 한강공원 보전 및 이용에 관한 기본 조례 (the Seoul Hangang Park ordinance) and from notices published by the Future Hangang Headquarters (미래한강본부), the city office that runs the 11 parks. Choosing a park? Start with our Hangang parks comparison.

Can you put up a tent at Hangang Park?

Short answer: yes, if it’s a small, open shade tent inside a designated zone during permitted months and hours. A closed tent, a tent outside a zone, or one still standing after hours breaks the rules.

그늘막 (geuneulmak, shade tent) is the key word. The city lets people put up shade tents for sun protection. It does not allow camping. The 2026 rules:

⛺ Hangang Park shade-tent rules, 2026 (Future Hangang Headquarters)

Rule	Detail
Season	March 1 – November 30, 2026. Tents are not allowed December–February, when the grass is left to recover.
Normal hours	March–May and September–November: 09:00–19:00. June–August: 09:00–20:00. Take the tent down yourself at closing time.
Temporary extension	September 1 – November 30, 2026: 09:00–22:00
Size	About 2 m × 2 m (a 4-person tent)
Structure	One-touch pop-up type that doesn’t damage trees or plants, with at least 2 sides open
Where	Only in the 15 designated zones across all 11 parks
Mats and big umbrellas	Allowed at any time, anywhere, all year

The two-open-sides rule dates from April 2019. According to Hankook Ilbo, the city brought it in with a ₩1,000,000 fine for violations and 237 staff patrolling at least 8 times a day. The city’s August 2025 announcement extending the season kept the same structure rule.

The zones differ a lot in size. Yeouido’s is the largest (45,000 ㎡) and Jamwon’s is the smallest (6,800 ㎡). The park comparison has every zone.

Tent tips that keep you out of trouble

Look for the zone signs. Pitching a tent on grass just outside the boundary counts as camping in an undesignated place.
Keep two sides rolled up the whole time, even when you want some privacy.
This fall, set a 21:45 alarm. Under the temporary extension, 22:00 is the deadline to have the tent packed away.
Night fishing is allowed outside the no-fishing stretches, but the park's own FAQ says a tent is still not allowed, because camping is banned.

How much is the fine for camping or cooking at Hangang Park?

Short answer: ₩1,000,000 the first time, ₩2,000,000 the second time and ₩3,000,000 the third time for camping (야영) or cooking (취사) outside a designated place. That covers overnight tents, gas burners, portable grills and charcoal barbecues on the grass.

It’s by far the steepest fine on the list. Here is the city’s full fine table (Table 3 of the ordinance):

💸 Hangang Park fines (Seoul ordinance, Art. 17 & 20, Table 3)

Violation	Fine
Camping or cooking outside designated places	₩1,000,000 / ₩2,000,000 / ₩3,000,000 (1st / 2nd / 3rd)
Fishing with bait paste or fish meal (떡밥·어분)	₩1,000,000 / ₩2,000,000 / ₩3,000,000
Fishing in a no-fishing zone, or with 4+ rods, snag hooks, or catching sweetfish	₩500,000 / ₩700,000 / ₩1,000,000
Not taking away trash from your picnic or outing	₩100,000
Damaging trees or plants	₩100,000
Abusing or catching park wildlife without a permit	₩100,000
Unauthorized farming	₩100,000
Severe noise or odor, or drunken behavior that causes disgust or anxiety	₩70,000
Leaving pet waste (urine only if it’s on a facility)	₩70,000
Unlicensed street vending	₩70,000
Vending from a wheeled motor vehicle outside designated spots	₩70,000
Dog without a leash	₩50,000
Riding a motorized wheeled device off the roadway	₩50,000
Parking outside designated places	₩50,000
Picking flowers or fruit	₩50,000
Dumping litter (cigarette butts, gum, tissues) outside bins	₩30,000

A few things that look like cooking are fine:

Convenience-store ramyeon. The park stores sell instant noodles and cook them in their own machines, the famous “Hangang ramyeon”. The store is doing the cooking, not you, and it’s part of the classic Hangang evening. More on cheap river fun in Things you pay for on the Han River.
Delivered or ready-made food such as chicken, pizza, gimbap and tteokbokki.
Grilling in a place that allows it. Nanji Campground has a bookable barbecue zone (26 sites: ₩10,000 for 4 people, ₩15,000 for 8, ₩20,000 for 12) and campfire pits (₩5,000–₩10,000).

A real case: According to Bizhankook, citing the then Hangang Project Headquarters, park staff logged 19,265 warnings for unauthorized camping and cooking between January and October 2019. Only one person was actually fined: in October 2019, a visitor at Ichon Hangang Park who broke the tent rules paid ₩1,000,000. Staff usually warn first, but they can and do issue the full fine.

Where can you actually camp overnight?

Nanji Campground is the only permanent campground in the Hangang Parks. The Future Hangang Headquarters describes it as the only place in Seoul to camp in a Han River park. It has 155 sites over 27,000 ㎡:

🏕️ Nanji Campground prices (per site, per night)

Site	Price
Standard camping, 2 people (gravel)	₩15,000
Standard camping, 4 people (gravel or deck)	₩20,000
Free camping zone, 4 people (grass)	₩15,000
Glamping	₩100,000

Bookings open on the 15th of each month for the following month, through the Seoul Public Service Reservation site (yeyak.seoul.go.kr). You pay 100% upfront, and walk-ins aren’t possible. The campground closes on the second Tuesday of every month. The shop doesn’t sell alcohol and doesn’t rent tents, so bring your own gear.

The only exception in 2026 was the one-month “Hangang Bamping” night-camping event at Ttukseom and Yeouido (100 sites each, 17:00 to 09:00 every night in August). It’s over for this year.

📍 Open in Naver Map

Is drinking allowed at Hangang Park?

Short answer: yes. Hangang Park is not a designated alcohol-free zone, so a can of beer with your chicken (chimaek) is legal. The fine is for being a drunken nuisance, not for drinking.

Seoul has had 22 city-run parks designated as 음주청정지역 (“alcohol-clean zones”) since April 2018. Even there, drinking itself isn’t banned. Only drunken behavior that disturbs others can be fined, up to ₩100,000. According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun (July 2024), the city proposed adding the Hangang Parks in 2023, but the Seoul Metropolitan Council shelved the proposal for lack of consensus. We found no change since then. The full background is in our Korea drinking rules guide.

The Hangang ordinance still has its own rule: severe noise, bad smells, or drunken behavior that makes other people feel disgust or anxiety is fined ₩70,000. The same logic applies to loud speakers late at night.

Smoking is a bit different. The Hangang Parks aren’t a blanket non-smoking zone, but some facilities inside them are. On September 4, 2026, a Seoul Metropolitan Council committee passed an amendment that would extend the non-smoking area around the Hangang swimming pools and splash pads to 10 m beyond their boundaries (reported by Seoul Pn). The full council still has to vote on it. Throwing a butt on the ground counts as littering (₩30,000). Our smoking and vaping rules guide explains where smoking is and isn’t allowed.

How do delivery zones work at Hangang Park?

Short answer: order to a numbered 배달존 (baedaljon, delivery zone), meet the rider there, and carry the food back yourself. Only Yeouido and Ttukseom have official zones.

The city set up delivery zones so delivery motorbikes wouldn’t have to ride through crowded park paths. The locations listed by the Future Hangang Headquarters:

🍗 Official Hangang delivery zones

Park	Zone	Where
Yeouido	3	In front of Parking Lot 2; in front of the Yeouido riverside gate (나들목); next to the Mulbit Plaza entrance
Ttukseom	2	In front of the Ttukseom riverside gate; in front of the Ttukseom Information Center

Ordering chicken to the river without a Korean phone

In the delivery app (Baemin, Coupang Eats, Yogiyo), type the zone as your address, for example "여의도한강공원 배달존" and the number shown on the sign.
In the delivery request, write the zone number and what you're wearing.
Can't use the apps? The park convenience stores sell ready-made food, including ramyeon and snacks.
At other parks there's no official zone. Meet the rider at the nearest riverside gate (나들목) or car park instead of asking them to ride onto the paths.

What happens to all the trash?

Short answer: take it to the park’s recycling and trash points before you leave. If you walk away from your picnic mess, the fine is ₩100,000.

The volume is huge. Seoul’s open-data portal records 3,296 tons of trash from the 11 Hangang Parks in 2023, peaking at 428 tons in May and 414 tons in October. According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, Yeouido alone produced 25 tons on a single cherry-blossom Sunday in April 2024, compared with a normal 3–5 tons a day. After the Seoul International Fireworks Festival on September 5, 2026, News1 reported more than 100 workers cleaning overnight and over ten 8-ton truckloads collected at Yeouido.

3,296t

Trash from the 11 Hangang Parks in 2023 (Seoul Open Data)

₩100,000

Fine for leaving your picnic trash behind

₩30,000

Fine for dropping litter or a cigarette butt

Park bins are split by type, like everywhere else in Korea. Plastic delivery containers, cans and PET bottles each go in their own section, and general waste goes separately. Rinse off food scraps if you can. Our Korea trash and recycling guide explains the categories.

Illegal vending is policed too. According to the Kyunghyang Shinmun, from March 9 to April 7, 2024 the city recorded 442 illegal vending cases in the Hangang Parks and issued ₩30.94 million in fines (₩70,000 each), then doubled vendor patrols from twice to four times a week.

The other rules: drones, fishing, swimming, bikes, pets, busking, filming

📋 Quick rulebook for everything else

Activity	Rule
Drones	You need approval to fly over the Hangang Parks. The only exception is the Gwangnaru Hangang Drone Park for hobby drones up to 25 kg: free, booked online, 1–3 hours per slot. A drone with a camera attached also needs aerial-photography approval. Report illegal drones to 112 or 1338.
Fishing	Allowed from the banks of 10 parks (not Gwangnaru or upstream of the Jamsil weir), outside no-fishing zones. The no-fishing zones cover 30.38 km of the 57 km of banks. It’s banned from bridges and walking or bike paths. No bait paste, no more than 3 rods per person, and no selling your catch. There are free fishing spots at Seoraeseom (Banpo) and Mangwon.
Swimming	There’s no swimming area in the river. Use the summer pools. Hankook Ilbo reports there is no clear legal ban on swimming by yourself, but a man in his 30s drowned near the Jamsil weir on August 2, 2026. Don’t go in.
Kayaks and water sports	Between Jamsil Bridge and Haengju Bridge, from 30 minutes before sunrise to 30 minutes after sunset, after filing a report at an information center. Motorized craft are banned in marked stretches at Yeouido and Banpo.
E-scooters and e-bikes	Allowed only on the bike path. Riding a motorized device on lawns or footpaths is ₩50,000.
Pets	Always on a leash (₩50,000 if not). Pick up waste (₩70,000 if you don’t).
Busking	Free, but it needs a permit from that park’s information center by the 10th of the previous month. Groups of up to 15, a maximum of 3 hours between 10:00 and 20:00, no more than 2 speakers, 65 dB by day and 60 dB in the evening. No karaoke machines.
Commercial filming	This includes wedding shoots and fashion or magazine photo shoots. Recording is ₩26,000 for the first hour plus ₩13,000 for each extra hour. Film, commercial and music-video shoots are ₩130,000 by day and ₩260,000 at night. Book on the Seoul Public Service Reservation site.
Fireworks and firecrackers	There’s no separate line for them in the park fine table, and we couldn’t confirm a specific penalty. In practice staff will stop you, and the nuisance rule (₩70,000) is the fallback. The only fireworks you’ll see here are the official festival’s.

Two related guides: drone rules in Seoul covers the no-fly zones in detail, and if you’re heading to the mountains next, see national park and hiking fines.

Why "just ignore the rules" doesn't work: In June 2025, a private group held a marathon of about 3,000 runners from Yeouido to Banghwa Bridge after the city had told it not to use the park. According to Money Today (May 2026), prosecutors indicted the organizer and an associate under the River Act, seeking ₩3,000,000 each. The parks are legally a river zone, and unauthorized use is treated as a legal matter.

Big-event days: the fireworks festival

The Seoul International Fireworks Festival takes over Yeouido every autumn. In 2026 it ran on September 5, with an eve event on the 4th for the first time. The city deployed 6,800 safety staff, ran an official food-truck zone, cracked down on illegal vendors, and temporarily closed 34 Ttareungyi (Seoul public bike) stations from 08:00 on September 4 to 07:00 on September 6. The Asia Business Daily reported mats and tents left behind with city warning notices about illegal use of river land attached, and people selling saved viewing spots online, which the city admitted is nearly impossible to catch.

On festival day, don’t cycle into the crowd area, and use Yeouido, Mapo or Saetgang stations rather than Yeouinaru.

Getting there and moving around

Ttareungyi (따릉이), Seoul’s public bike, docks at most park entrances and is the easiest way to hop between zones. Stick to the bike path, and don’t ride after drinking. Things you pay for on the Han River compares it with private bike rentals.
The Hangang Bus (river ferry) stops at Yeouido, Ttukseom, Jamsil, Mangwon and others. See the Hangang Bus guide.
Questions on site: every park has an information center, and you can call the Dasan Call Center on 120 (dial 02-120 from a foreign phone), which offers foreign-language help.

Sources