Gwangju News

Current Affairs, Korean

The Dae-in Market has been a longstanding favorite of Gwangju citizens. It offers fresh fruit, seafood, lunch delights and hundreds of other sundry items and has been the site of various cultural events as of recently. In 2008, the Gwangju Biennale used a number of slots to house local art projects. In [...]

By  Gwangju News Volunteer Team

The Dae-in Market has been a longstanding favorite of Gwangju citizens. It offers fresh fruit, seafood, lunch delights and hundreds of other sundry items and has been the site of various cultural events as of recently. In 2008, the Gwangju Biennale used a number of slots to house local art projects. In May and June, the Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) hung a photo exhibition in a downstairs gallery. These events are an attempt to induce younger and more diverse crowds to the market, and expected to occur more frequently.

Newcomers to the area can find Dae-In by traveling north from Migliore, across Geumnamno, and through the first traffic light. Dae-In Market has noticeable orange signage on the left after going straight through the first light.

In terms of busses, 6,39,54,56,87,98,151,180,184,518 serve the North gate, and 37,52,58,70, 81, ,170, 180, 184 go by the South Gate. After buying fresh food, customers can meander to Memi Art Space across the street from the North Gate on Saturday’s for the Art Jamboree, hoe down, and bar-b-que. As for the night owls, Club Nevermind is across the street from the North Gate in a yellow building, with live bands most Saturdays.

If you want to see real ajummas performing their food magic, find great prices for your kitchen staples, or divulge in well-cooked meals, Dae-In is a genuine Korean experience good enough to write home about.

The Gwangju News volunteer news team compiled this recent interview of five veteran Dae-in Marketers:

First was Ma Byung Liang (MBL) the owner of a store that sells fruit in front of the North Gate of the market.

GN: How long have you been running this store?

MBL: I have been selling fruit on the street here for over 30 years I have been able to raise my children by selling fruit here.

GN: How many foreigners come to Dae-In Market?

MBL: I have seen some foreigners around the market, but they usually enjoy “window shopping.” I’ve never sold any fruit to a foreigner.

GN: What has changed at Dae-In in recent years, compared to the past?

MBL: There were many more people here when we were linked to the bus terminal, and a joint market linked to Dae-In market directly. But nowadays, the big marts target customers with cheap prices and big parking lots, so the number of customers here is getting to be very low.

GN: Do you think the UNESCO/APCEIU festival and photography show will be helpful?

MBL: I’m not sure that it can change the market, but I hope it brings more people here. If more people visit the market, I think they will enjoy it, and come back over and over.

GN: What is your wish for Dae-In?

MBL: Dae-In is becoming sluggish. If the market atmosphere is active, like before, it can be a real draw for Gwangju City. If the city helps Dae-In Market, the market will be able to give back in return.

Next the team visited the Gwangju Song-Su, a seafood shop owned by Kim Jung Soon (KJS).

GN: How long have you run this store?

KJS: I have been running it for 35 years, but this store is not the first one. We moved from another store (also located in Dae-In Market).

GN: Do you see any foreigner’s here?

KJS: The foreigners that come seem to be students. Foreigners usually come on weekends. They come for sightseeing. Our main customers are old men and women. I would like to see more young people come to the market.

GN: What changes have you seen over the years?

KJS: The number of customers has declined since the bus station moved. Foot-traffic went down quite a bit then. But thanks to the support of Gwangju City, roofs were built. It has helped the atmosphere, but the number of customers continues to decline.

GN: Do you think art and cultural festivals or exhibits like the UNESCO/APCEIU photography show can help Dae-In Market?

KJS: Although the exhibits and festivals do not help us directly, they can make the market more active. In this way they are very helpful.

GN: What is your wish for the future?

KJS: I hope that the bus routes will be improved. Some of the bus routes are not good now.

In between shops the team chatted with a customer, whose name did not want to be revealed. She said she has been shopping at Dae-In for 23 years. This type of loyalty is what keep the market vibrant now, but the weekends when it was hard to move between shops due to so many people, is now a goal to build back to.

The next shop was the Rose of Sharon Chon Shop. This yummy fried “Korean pancake” has a wide variety of possible ingredients, and this shop was generous to the team, and popular with the Korean shoppers, meaning they make a mean Chon. Delicious! Owner Lee Young Ja (LYJ) said that she has been the owner since 2003.

GN: How often do foreigners visit your shop in Dae-In?

LYJ: There are quite a few foreigners who visit Dae-In, and the art gallery has helped. They are often quite good at Korean, and they visit our shop and buy our shop’s product, chon.”

GN: What has changed at Dae-In Market?

LYJ: In the past there were so many people visiting Dae-In Market. But, nowadays, because of department stores and big marts, there are not so many customers.

GN: How do you think the new people visiting the events help activate the market?

LYJ: I think for Dae-In’s future development these activities are very helpful. When people come to see the art, it is helpful to us.

GN: What is your wish for the future?

LYJ: I would like to see more people visiting our market. New visitors will make an active market.

We shared a huge “service’ plate of Chon with other workers who were scouting a location for the
UNESCO/APCEIU photo exhibit, and spotted a curved row of restaurants that would be hard for the average visitor to find. Curiosity led us to “Street Number One” restaurant. Owner Yang Sun Kyung (YSK) was generous with her time.

GN: Have long have you been here?

YSK: It’s been 23 years since I started the restaurant. I run the restaurant by myself, so every day I get to work at 7 a.m.

GN: How often do foreigners visit here?

YSK: They often visit the restaurant. We sell Korean sausages and soup. I was surprised to see it, but foreigners eat our restaurant food with satisfaction.

GN: What has changed from the past?

YSK: When the bus terminal was here, many rural people visited Dae-In. There are less people now, and it comes not just from the bus terminal, but also City Hall moving. Not so many people visit our market any more.

GN: Do you think the people coming to visit art vents is helpful to activate the Market?

YSK: I think it’s really positive. It has already been helpful in having new people visit our market.

GN: What is your wish for the future?

YSK: I hope more people visit our market so we can be active.

It was amazing to see the vitality of the shopkeepers, and their hard work and optimism about the ideas that the City of Gwangju and others are utilizing to revitalize Dae-In Market, a valuable resource.

Where else but Dae-In for a large fresh Hung-Oh? This fish is some of the best in the area. It has all the kick of a halmoni’s Gimchi, all by itself, and a crunch…a delicacy that Dae-In specializes in, and one that cannot be found very often outside Joellanamdo. Bon Appetite!

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