Where to shop and eat at Gwangjang Market, Seoul’s old textile hub turned hip mecca
From Starbucks to Kodak to The North Face, big brands are opening in the century-old Seoul market, attracting a new generation of shoppers
Suzy and her two friends from Taiwan wandered through Gwangjang Market in central Seoul on a crisp autumn afternoon. The three professional dancers were in Korea for dance lessons and stopped by the market to try its famous yukhoe, or marinated raw beef.
After sharing a bowl of raw beef topped with egg yolk and pear slices at a food stall on the eastern end of the market, the trio explored some hip new additions. At Off Beauty, a warehouse-style beauty outlet, one of them picked up a hand cream by Vareli, a Korean lifestyle brand.
For Afiqah Razak, 32, a visitor from Brunei travelling with her husband and friends, the market’s transformation was striking. She stopped by to purchase silk for baju kurung – Bruneian traditional women’s attire – just as she did a decade ago while studying in Seoul.
