DAEJEON < invest Korea

According to Yonhap News,

(DAEJEON=Yonhap News) While shoppers often face challenges in choosing between a modernized shopping mall and a traditional marketplace, Daejeon Jungang Market located in this central South Korean city provides a rare opportunity to grab both options in one visit.

Located just a five-minute walk away from Daejeon Station, this conventional market is the oldest and largest market in the metropolitan city with more than 1,250 renovated vendors selling wide-ranging goods from Korean traditional dress "hanbok" to Korean street dishes.

The market is sectioned into five districts, including the one specializing in wedding items like high-quality hanbok, ceramics and a wedding meal that a bride prepares for her future in-laws during a pre-wedding ceremony called "pyebaek."

Daejeon Jungang Market located in Daejeon is the largest and oldest market in the central part of South Korea with over 50,000 visitors per day. (Yonhap)

Foodies can experience almost any Korean traditional and street food, with one alley filled with stalls of sundae-- Korean blood sausage made out of pig or cow intestines stuffed with an assortment of ingredients and glass noodles.

Jungang Market was first launched in the early 1900s when several merchants opened small vendors taking advantage of its proximity to the railway station. Jungang is a Korean word meaning central. The market was developed to the current location following the 1950-53 Korean War.

"Jungang was the centerpiece of Daejeon people when there were no online shopping malls or large discount chains," said Koo Beom-rim, who has worked at the market over 30 years and serves as the top official for an association of Daejeon Jungang Market merchants. "Everyone shopped here, not only people from Daejeon but from adjacent cities due to its geographical proximity."

Jungang Market, which used to be bustling in the 1970s and 1980s, ran into a challenge in the early 2000s as it began to lose customers to large discount stores and supermarkets run by retail giants. 

Vendors and shops line up at Daejeon Jungang Market located in Daejeon. The market was renovated and modernized to meet the growing demand. (Yonhap)

In an effort to revitalize the market, the municipal government has sought various reconstruction and redevelopment projects to modernize facilities such as parking lots, arcades and vendors.

"In the past, the customers came to Jungang Market since they could only purchase things here," said Park Yang-choon, a ceramics vendor. "However, the times have changed and merchants have to keep up with the change."

The arcade, unlike other conventional markets, has been renovated with LED roofs to lighten up the market on rainy days and is equipped with big parking lots that are free on the weekends and for two hours on weekdays with the receipt of a purchase.

The market was picked by the Korean Standards Association for providing the best service in terms of modernized facilities as well as customer relations. The association provides a training program for merchants to upgrade their customer service.

"There is a department store close to my home, but I come here sometimes as groceries are not only cheap but fresh," said 42-year-old Chang Soon-mi, noting that the market is customer-friendly in many ways. 

Caption of a mobile website of Daejeon Jungang Market located in Daejeon. The website shows a detailed map of vendors and offers coupons for extra bargains. (Yonhap)

Also to lure young customers, the market developed a website for smartphones that shows a detailed map of vendors and offers coupons for extra bargains.

"The purpose of the website is to make the market more accessible to smartphone users," said Koo, adding that vendors and merchants have taken innovative steps to reconnect with the community by creating new menus and products.

The northern part of the market is the district of hundreds of wholesale traders and retailers, and traditional markets specializing in fashion and wedding.

Noticeably, more than 70 stores are lined up to sell hanbok, long-estranged traditional clothing that have been worn by people for special occasions such as weddings, a child's first birthday or other big family events.

In South Korea, it is customary for brides and grooms to custom order or rent one to don as part of the wedding ceremony.

Daejeon Jungang Market located in central South Korea has more than 70 shops selling Korean traditional dress hanbok. (Yonhap)

Daeyeong Joodan, which opened its doors more than 20 years ago, custom makes a colorful dress for between 500,000 and 800,000 won (US$680), far below the market price and also rents out pieces for around 200,000 won.

"Department stores are more convenient. However, I visited here after searching through websites for newlyweds or brides-to-be who recommended this place for high quality and low prices," a 29-year-old bride-to-be surnamed Shin said. "I am thinking about customizing pieces for me and my future husband."

The store is not only visited by female or mid-aged customers but also young adults or even teenagers who want to try out different designs of modernized hanbok.

"Young people are increasingly coming here with their friends or families," Sohn Young-ae, an owner and designer of the shop, said, adding that designs have changed a lot to meet changing tastes.


Visitors and customers at Daejeon Jungang Market located in central South Korea. (Photo courtesy of an association of Daejeon Jungang Market merchants)

Restaurants and vendors line up at Daejeon Jungang Market located in central South Korea. (Yonhap)

The southern part of the market is filled with dozens of food alleyways and hideouts that offer traditional Korean cuisine. The corner is usually packed with locals and tourists at meal time.

Open-style vendors selling piles of pajeon--traditional Korean pancake with fillings such as shellfish and other varieties -- appear one after another. The places also pair traditional Korean wine makgeolli with the meal, which the locals often praise as the perfect combo for a rainy day.

Sundae is also one of the most popular street foods at the market.

The dish has spawned regional variations, with more than 30 vendors at Jungang Market specializing in sundae made exclusively with the small intestine of a cow or pig. The dish is often served with other fatty parts said to be good for healthy skin and goes for a reasonable 4,000 won. 

Street vendors sell sundae --Korean blood sausage made out of pig or cow intestines stuffed with an assortment of ingredients and glass noodles -- at Daejeon Jungang Market. (Yonhap)

Hamkyeongdo, one of the oldest restaurants within the market, serves seolleongtang, a cloudly white ox bone soup, and gomtang, a bare-bones kind of soup, that is regularly sought by people looking for a heavy meal.

"Most of our customers have been coming here for decades," said a restaurant waiter, noting that seolleongtang is usually served with noodles, as well green onions and salt for extra favor. The deep favor comes from the bone broth which is simmered for more than 24 hours. 

Although the market was selected by the Korea Tourism Organization as one of the 50 must-visit traditional markets in South Korea, the market still is not often visited by foreigners.

According to data by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, only 1.3 percent of foreign visitors to South Korea visited Daejeon in 2015.

"Our first goal is to attract more local tourists, but the second goal is to lure more foreign tourists," said Koo. The market sees some 50,000 visitors per day.

Koo also said the merchants also have a plan to open a night market which is often sought out by foreign tourists.

khj@yna.co.kr

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