Most university students don’t know very much about our traditional markets. Maybe they have been to one, but it's not a favorite place. But traditional markets have many interesting things that we don't know about. There are various kinds of food and we can have interesting experiences and see our favorite clothes and accessories. It is a good thing to renew interest in the traditional markets among the younger generation. So we visited a traditional market in Seoul, and we are going to introduce the pleasures of the traditional market.

Gwangjang Market

Location: 88, Changgyeonggung-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Time: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., closed on Sundays

 Dongdaemun Market (now Gwangjang Market) was officially opened in July 1905 by Hansung Department store. To operate and manage Dongdaemun Market, people founded the Gwangjang Company. The meaning of Gwangjang is "gather and keep". Gwangjang Market is wide, and there are several entrances. It consists of more than 5,000 stores. This market is crowded with many people from early in the morning and bustles with activity. Used goods markets are located in one corner of the market. They are on the second floor of Gwangjang Market. There are various kinds of used clothes and shoes. Here we can find good things; we call them treasures. It is easy to bargain and we can buy things at cheaper prices. Even if the original price was cheap, you can buy expensive things at a cheaper price. Also, Gwangjang Market's best place is “Meokja” Alley. Mayak rice rolls, Bindaetteok and Korean style raw beef are the most famous foods. In addition, these are many other foods such as "soondae", raw fish and banquet noodles. Mayak gimbap is a bite-size food that consists of pickled radish and carrots wrapped in rice. They serve it with mustard sauce. When you eat them together, you enjoy a pungent taste. The sauce enriches the flavor. Also, Tteok-bokki is famous. Everyone likes this because Tteok-bokki and rice rolls go well together. Due to the generous people, you can eat a lot of delicious foods and pay a good price in this market.

Tongin Market

Location: 18 gil, Jahamullo, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Time: 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. (Closed on the third Sunday of every month.)

  In June 1941, during the Japanese colonial era, Tongin Market began as a market for Japanese. After the Korean War, it took the shape of a typical market because of the increase in population around the market. It consists of one straight alley with 70 to 80 stores. Lately, it has increased its popularity by running a box lunch cafe. It is very convenient because of the straight alley, but its path is narrow. Therefore, you should beware of people holding box lunches. The mood of the market is very active with many people moving around. You have to buy a “Yeopjeon” in the Customer Satisfaction Center to use the box lunch cafe. One Yeopjeon is worth 500 won and people almost always buy 5,000 won’s worth. You can choose delicious food in the box lunch store. People almost always eat its famous foods such as oily Tteok-bokki, dumplings, rice rolls and grilled short rib patties. You can see many other things like “sikhye”, fruits, rice cakes and pancakes. You fill a box lunch full and go to the cafe and eat it! You can buy rice and soup for 1,000 won. If you use the cafe, you can get a discounted 500 won coffee or drinks in the Customer Satisfaction Center. You can also get a refund for leftover Yeopjeons except for the box lunch price of 500 won.

Yeongcheon Market

Location: 704, Seongsallo, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul

Time: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day

  Yeongcheon Market is near the Independence Gate and it was organized in the 60s. There are many modern historical cultural heritage items and various delicious foods, so it is a very good place to see our cultural heritage and eat delicious things. Its advantage is the many things to see. Also, there is the Gorugoru buffet that runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. from Thursdays to Saturday. If you go to the ticket sales place and pay 5,000 won, they will give you a coupon and a box lunch. You have to go to stores that hang a yellow ‘ㄱ’ sign and then put food in your box lunch. The buffet provides 3 types of rice made by cuisine researcher, Park Jong-Sook. They are a mushroom bean curd meal, a dried eggplant meal,  chicken breast and a stem of garlic meal. You can buy them with a 1,500 won coupon. The famous restaurants in this market are the Master Twisted Breadstick House, the Original Tteok-bokki House and so on. The Master Twisted Breadstick House closes its door when all of the bread is sold out. Their breadsticks are 1,000 won for 4 sticks. I think it is a very good price! But you can’t receive change from your coupons. The Original Tteok-bokki House has simple, warmhearted feeling. The weakness of this market is you have to ask about each food’s price.

Park Baek-jin : I usually do not go to markets, so I thought it wouldn’t be fun. But when I went to the market, there were so many interesting things. I want to go to a market again because of the Tteok-bokki and rice rolls at Gwanjang Market.

Choi Soo-jin : It is a different atmosphere from the downtown streets that I usually visit. I liked the bustle of humanity. The friendly, crowded atmosphere is so good. There are delicious foods and interesting things. I am planning to visit there often.

 There are so many traditional markets near us. You think they wouldn’t be interesting, but there are so many programs and events you can enjoy. You can feel warmth and closeness at the markets. They are experiencing a crisis these days but they are increasing their popularity with various programs. But there are so many markets can’t escape from the current crisis. Therefore, we should protect our traditional markets. Why don’t you go to traditional markets?