Ban on ballpark beer vendors resents South Korean fans

By Park Sae-jin Posted : April 19, 2016, 11:42 Updated : April 19, 2016, 11:42

A beer vendor in the stand [AP=Yonhap News]



Beer vendors were a ballpark fixture that has delighted South Korean fans for decades, but their pleasure is disappearing due to a controversial ban by government officials conscious of a bad impact on teenagers.

From Monday, South Korean baseball stadiums kicked out "Beer Boys" delivering a keg of draught beer to fans sitting in the stands under guidelines from the National Tax Service and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

The sudden ban, however, triggered an angry protest from South Korean baseball fans who regard beer as a regular and natural companion at the ballparks like their counterparts in the United States and Japan.

The relationship between baseball and beer is not taken lightly, as a considerable portion of beer in the United States is consumed watching baseball.

Baseball is the most popular sport in South Korea where a combination of fried chicken and beef called "chimaek" has been a representative ballpark snack since a professional baseball league was launched in 1982, spreading to other sports arenas and even to the high-minded green-side stands where many galleries now enjoy it while watching golf games.

Neither fried chicken nor beer originated in South Korea, but a combination of these two overseas imports has become a culturally significant force in drinking culture here. The Korean pop culture wave "Hallyu" also triggered a chimaek fever in China.

To ban beer vendors at the stadiums, South Korean government officials invoked a law which allows alcohol sales only at designated places like restaurants and bars. Theoretically, mobile sales of beer are prohibited.

Government officials insist the ban is aimed at reducing youth exposure and accessibility to alcohol, asking the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) to sell canned beer only at stores in the stadiums.

Fans reacted furiously to the government's move which sparked a stream of critical online postings. "It's really absurd to think that such a move will help reduce alcohol consumption among minors," Freezer wrote on his blog.

Another blogger named "Ace-begins" accused authorities of depriving baseball fans of their pleasure. "Beer and baseball go together and are accepted as a crucial element in livening up the mood in the stands."

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com 
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