The theme of the July issue of KOREA is “markets.” Found in cities and countryside alike, each one holds a different story. This special feature explores the Korean market as it exists today—rooted in local life, full of human warmth and endlessly compelling. The cover features an AI-generated video based on a photo of Gwangjang Market courtesy of the Seoul Tourism Organization.
The market. A space for people to meet, a vessel for local life to circulate, a canvas for unadorned scenes of living. Layer by layer, history settles into the alleyways, and new variations begin to emerge from old memories. It is the place most woven into the fabric of everyday Korean life—and yet, perhaps, the most foreign to you.
Traditional Markets: Where Local Life Meets Innovation
Cover Story 1
Overflowing with Korean ingredients, foods and goods of every kind, and thick with the scent of medicinal herbs, the market draws a constant stream of visitors—young and old, local and foreign. To outsiders, Korea’s traditional markets feel at once wondrous and undeniably hip. In one corner of an old market, couples soak in retro nostalgia at a space converted from a worn-out theater. On the rooftop, young people share pizza and gopchanggui (grilled beef tripe or grilled pork tripe), while international tourists watch elderly shoppers picking through medicinal herbs. Seniors, couples, young people and those from abroad, each spending their own kind of time in a single shared space: this is the most vivid portrait of Korea’s traditional markets today.
Gosari Express—a vegan noodle shop inside Seoul Jungang Market built around gosari (bracken fern), and the flagship space of plant-based brand Bad Carrot. A double Michelin honoree in the 2026 guide, it carries one simple conviction: that plant-based food should stop being a special choice for special people and start being something everyone eats simply because it tastes good. But here’s the twist: this hip noodle shop sits in a back alley of an old traditional market famous for its meat. And not a single piece of meat goes into the food. Declaring the infinite potential of vegetables from the heart of a market overflowing with animal byproducts—that’s a boldness bordering on audacious. CEO Kim Je-eun’s mission to shatter preconceptions and bring vegan food into everyday life is, in itself, nothing short of revolutionary.
Timeless Legacy
Kim Hyang-soon
1st Owner of Pungnyeon Gireumjip
Lee Tae-young
2nd Owner of Pungnyeon Gireumjip
Step into the alleyways of Jungang Market, Seoul, and something reaches you before anything else—the warm, almost sweet scent of freshly roasted sesame. It’s the smell of Pungnyeon Gireumjip, a shop that has occupied this same corner since 1986. “Don’t take my word for it. Try it yourself,” says owner Lee Tae-young, extending a small spoon with a drop of oil. In that single drop lies 40 years of his parents’ dedication and a decade of his own hard-won reinvention. The delivery model changed. So did the process and the service. But the taste and the trust—those he never touched. That is how this oil shop preserves its past while moving steadily into the future.
After a workout that leaves you drenched in sweat, or on a sweltering summer day when the blazing sun has sapped your energy, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? Most people would probably think of a cold drink, but Koreans reach for piping-hot chicken dishes instead. A prime example is beoseot dakbaeksuk (whole chicken soup with mushrooms), a recurring fixture on the variety show “Hey! First Time in Korea?,” which follows international visitors experiencing Korea for the first time.
Located in the Dutch city of Leiden, Wereldmuseum Leiden is a world-class ethnographic museum with a storied history. This dynamic museum, which is currently hosting an action-packed exhibition taking a fresh look at K-pop, preserves 1,500 Korean cultural artifacts, including a suit of armor infused with the grandeur and bravery of warriors of the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910). The eye is drawn to gleaming bronze scales atop the armor’s red wool, which retains its vivid hue after more than a century. The helmet is embellished with fierce-looking lions poised to pounce and dragons soaring through the sky.
