Gwangjang Market 광장시장

Gwangjang Market, between Jongno 4-ga and the Cheonggyecheon stream, is one of the oldest and largest traditional markets in Seoul and is widely described as Korea’s first permanent market. Today it is best known for the food alley at its centre, where rows of stalls serve pancakes, gimbap and raw beef to diners perched on benches. Away from the griddles, much of the market still trades in what it was built on: fabric, bedding and hanbok.

History in brief

In 1905, as the Japanese-led currency reform squeezed Korean traders, local merchants pooled their money and set up the Gwangjang Company in July that year to run a market of their own. Its official history stresses that, unlike other markets of the period run by Japanese interests, this one stayed under Korean ownership. The site grew out of Baeogae (Ihyeon) market, counted among the three great markets of late-Joseon Seoul. It was registered under the name Dongdaemun Market and only became generally known as Gwangjang Market from the 1960s.

Part of the market was destroyed in the Korean War, and trade revived as refugees bought and sold daily necessities and military surplus goods, which the market itself regards as the beginning of Korea’s imported second-hand clothing trade. From around 1970 it developed into a specialist market for textiles and clothing.

What to eat

The food alley is the main reason most visitors come. Signature dishes include:

• Bindae-tteok – thick pancakes of ground mung beans, fried crisp in oil; often sold with meat patties as a set.
• Mini gimbap – finger-sized rolls served with a dipping sauce. Long nicknamed “mayak gimbap” (addictive gimbap), they are now more often called kkoma gimbap (“little gimbap”).
• Yukhoe – seasoned raw beef, sometimes served with chopped raw octopus.
• Sundae and pressed head meat, assorted jeon, and spicy fish stew.

Newer bakeries and dessert stands have joined the old stalls, so it is easy to graze through several small plates rather than sit down for one meal.

Tips for visiting

Queues at the best-known stalls can be long around meal times, so arriving outside the lunch and dinner peaks helps. Check prices before ordering and carry some cash for smaller stalls. If you want to see the textile and vintage sections, visit Monday to Saturday before 18:00, since only the food alley stays open on Sundays and late.

The market is a short walk from DDP and from the stream paths of Cheonggyecheon, and it makes an easy lunch stop between Changdeokgung and Dongdaemun. For more food areas in the city, see the Seoul guide.