Region
The Seoul Folk Flea Market, also known as the Pungmul Flea Market (Pungmul means “regional specialties” in Korean), is one of the largest flea markets in Korea. It was created by a group of merchants who could not keep their booth at the Hwanghak-dong Flea Market during the massive renewal process of Cheonggyecheon. Since then, the Pungmul Flea Market has become a famous tourist destination, particularly thanks to the proximity of the Cheonggyechon river, the tourist mecca of the capital, and the fact that it shows the everyday ordinary Korean life.
The Pungmul Flea Market is one of the most important second hands market in Seoul (885 shops spreading over 8,000 square meters). It has managed to preserve the culture of Korean traditional markets, while attracting visitors thanks to its popular items and its unique charm representative of the Korean culture. The market showcases first necessity products, souvenirs, unusual items and even a traditional gastronomy, allowing visitors to shop and eat at the same place. The Pungmul Flea Market mixes modernity with Korean traditions that reflects the lifestyle of Koreans past, offering the visitor a unique experience at a very reasonable price.
What makes this market so special is that it is possible at the same time to find rare and authentic traditional objects, which are hard to find in other places, and souvenirs. It is important to keep in mind that merchants are grouped by alleys according to the type of products they sell (clothing, food, souvenirs, antiques).
Lyndsay Nagle
13th July 2015 at 15:38If you’re looking for shopping like Myeongdong or Dongdaemun you’ll be disappointed. But if you like antiques, odds and ends sold by everyday Koreans and antique dealers, you’ll enjoy the visit.
The building itself has a general shopping area (the usual clothes, socks, hats etc), but – to me anyway – the real gem was the antique section on the ground floor plus all the street vendors around the building (bric a brac etc). One man’s trash is another man’s treasure – found some interesting things!
Rob Montoya
24th October 2015 at 10:53I am a collectible-aholic and found this place amazing! The area is huge and you can get just about anything you want, from antiques to junktiques to collectible to second hand goods to used/new stuff, electronics, etc. There is one main area that is in a building that has lots of “good stuff” but then just about every street leading to the building for many blocks around, has all kind of street vendors, locals, families selling “stuff” that you would never find anywhere else, easily anyways. There are restaurants and “main street” shops all around.
It was very easy to get to by the subway and then you had to know where to go after getting out of the subway but I also noticed that there were signs directing to the feel market. Pretty easy to get to and well worth the trip so that you could barter with the locals. This concept is pretty new to them so it was great to experience it; better than the “commercialized” markets, which are neat in their own right, but this is just “different”.
Russel Engle
22nd December 2015 at 18:39Lots of antiques, Buddha heads and Chinese stuff, Korean cabinets, military stuff, etc. the cutlery stall near the ramp offers good wares at fare prices, also Korean made.