Market
Namdaemun Market
21 Namdaemunsijang 4-gil, Jung District, Seoul
Sprawling traditional market of thousands of stalls selling everything from silk to street food.
This guide to Namdaemun Market in Seoul opens with the trick that earned it the nickname Dokkaebi Market, after the shape-shifting goblins of Korean folklore. It traces the market's destruction in the 1950 Korean War and the merchants who rebuilt it from rubble, and the contraband trade in cigarettes and watches smuggled from nearby U.S. bases that kept it running for decades. Wander the stalls slowly, since the market has always moved fastest when someone stops to look.
Audio guides are written and narrated by AI.