Seoul Jungang Market

서울중앙시장

A registered market strung along the lanes of Hwanghak-dong, its 124 units divided between prepared side dishes, dried fish and butchers. It is a market people shop at rather than visit, and early afternoon is its busiest hour.

Language

The entrance to Seoul Jungang Market seen from across the road: a steel-framed arch sign reading 서울중앙시장 SEOUL JUNGANG MARKET above a dark arcade leading into the market, shopfronts for a dumpling house and estate agents to either side, stalls and shoppers under awnings, and a taxi passing on the road in front.

Place information

Korean name: 서울중앙시장
Address: Around 36 Toegye-ro 85-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul (Hwanghak-dong 442)
Admission: No entry fee — you pay each vendor

Nearby

Dongdaemun Design Plaza

It closes three days a year and otherwise runs 10:00 to 20:00, but that figure covers the site, not what is inside it — each hall keeps its own hours according to whatever exhibition is running. Check the programme, not the building.

Heunginjimun Gate

The eastern gate of the walled city, designated a Treasure in 1963. A crescent-shaped barbican wraps its outer face — the only one of the four main gates built with one.

Naksan Park

A park on the lowest of the four hills that ringed the old walled city. A stretch of the city wall runs along its ridge, and the centre of Seoul lies below it on the far side.

Gwangjang Market

Go with several small dishes in mind and compare posted prices before ordering; individual stalls keep their own hours and closing days.

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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