Garak Market

가락시장

A public wholesale market run by the Seoul Agro-Fisheries & Food Corporation. Each division auctions on its own clock — fruit and vegetables are scattered from 02:00 to 23:00 by commodity, seafood opens at 23:00 with fresh fish. The grounds stay open around the clock, but no auction runs from Saturday evening to Sunday dawn.

Language

An aisle in the seafood halls of Garak Market: stalls and live tanks of fish and shellfish on both sides, traders in aprons and rubber gloves working at the counters, and a dense canopy of lit signs overhead naming the shops and their catch.

Place information

Korean name: 가락시장
Address: 932 Yangjae-daero, Songpa-gu, Seoul (Garak-dong)
Nearest station: Garak Market Station (가락시장역, Line 8) (Exit 3)
Opening hours: open at all hours varies by shop
Closed: Open year-round
Hours notes: The market is open 24 hours; the auctions are not continuous. The operator publishes a start time per commodity: in produce, grapes, peaches and citrus at 02:00, apples, pears and yuja at 08:00, graded leaf vegetables at 18:30, spring onion at 20:30 and onion at 23:00; in seafood, fresh fish at 23:00, shellfish at 23:30, frozen at 01:30, live fish at 03:30, dried squid, dried anchovy and laver at 06:00, dried seaweed at 06:30 and other dried goods at 07:00. Several vegetables have different winter and summer times, and the operator states that times can vary by wholesale company and by season, publishing separate enquiry numbers for produce (3435-0432) and seafood (3435-0421). Cabbage at 23:00 is a temporary 2026 arrangement. No auctions run from Saturday evening to Sunday dawn, under article 3 of the enforcement rules of Seoul's wholesale market ordinance.
Admission: No entry fee — you pay each vendor
Operated by: Seoul Agro-Fisheries & Food Corporation

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History

According to its operator, Garak Market opened on 19 June 1985 as the country’s first and largest public wholesale market and has since played a leading role in the development of agricultural and fisheries produce distribution.

1985
Garak Market opening
According to its operator, it opened on 19 June as the country’s first and largest public wholesale market.

Seoul Agro-Fisheries & Food Corporation — Garak Market at a glance (opened 19 June 1985, about 2.3 million tonnes a year, site and floor area, produce and seafood divisions; current as of 31 August 2026) · Sep 24, 2026

What to see

Trading volume

Around 2.3 million tonnes are traded each year, or around 7,500 tonnes a day; the operator describes this as the world’s largest trading volume. It accounts for 55% of Seoul’s requirements and 33% of the combined trading volume of the country’s 33 public wholesale markets.

Nearby

Aerial view of Lotte World, showing the indoor Adventure building and the Magic Island castle on the lake

Lotte World Adventure

Its indoor areas make it useful in poor weather, but crowds still shape the visit; confirm the day's hours and suspended attractions before buying or reserving.

Seoul Sky Observatory

Visibility matters more than the clock: check weather and haze, reserve sunset periods early, and distinguish general observatory admission from paid add-on experiences.

Olympic Park

The venue complex built for the 1988 Olympics shares one perimeter with an earthen fortress from the early Baekje period. Several of the arenas have been renamed and now host concerts, so sports halls, an archaeological site and concert venues sit on the same walking route.

The riverside park seen from above: a paved plaza in front, footpaths threading between planted beds and lawns, a cyclist on the path to the right, the river and a distant cable-stayed bridge on the left and apartment blocks beyond

Jamsil Hangang Park

A 4.8 km stretch of the south bank between Jamsil Railway Bridge and Yeongdong Bridge. At the weir under the south end of Jamsil Bridge runs Jamsil Eodo, a fish ladder with a 228 m observation deck and a viewing window, so you can watch fish work their way up past the barrage. The operator describes the park's nature-study garden as a popular spot for children's field study and family picnics.

Stories about this place

Seoul Wholesale and Specialist Markets: Garak Auctions and Three More
Four Seoul markets used mainly by the trades and local shoppers rather than visitors — the Garak produce and seafood wholesale market, Dongdaemun Jonghap for fabric and haberdashery, Majang for meat, and Seoul Jungang, a neighbourhood market — compared on what each deals in, who it suits and what time to go. Garak's auctions start at a different hour for each commodity, and those shift by season and by wholesaler.

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