Antiques and old things offer something unique that new fashionable things never do

[Seoul Folk Flea Market]

 Thanks to merchants from around the country who flocked here in search of something old and rare to purchase, this place was called a ‘flea market’ in the old days. Officially named Seoul Folk Flea Market, this is a place in Sinseol-dong where street vendors from Hwanghak-dong built their new nests when their previous sales area underwent modernization. The market is quite crowded even from the starting point under the large placard. The shop stalls, squished together higgledy-piggledy, draw people's attention with their unique products ranging from antique smoking pipes to old cameras.            
Go into the building to find color-coded sections marking different commodities they carry. The yellow-dong (section) sells household goods, orange-dong vintage clothes, green-dong antiques, blue-dong clothing, navy-dong household goods, and purple-dong items related to hobby. Wherever you go, you will encounter diverse products covering a wide range of time, such as laptops, typewriters, phones, first-generation digital cameras, colorful cabinets made of mother-of-pearl, and antique furniture stacked up to touch the ceiling. It is like the history of modern humanity is on display all concentrated in a small space.            
 

[Seoul Folk Flea Market]

 Head up to the second floor to see "Youth First Street," a reproduction of downtown Seoul in the 1960s and ‘70s. You may not have experienced it yourself, but it may still feel familiar if you have seen some K-dramas depicting those days. The discolored comic books, LP discs, old computers, mini-game machines, and a coffee shop with a red leather sofa evoke nostalgia in older Koreans. Stop by the Youth Photo Studio where you can take a photo in an old school uniform, or play one of the old albums of Korean pop songs on the turntable. You may feel alternately like you are in a museum, and then also like you stepped into a time machine and traveled into the past.

[Seoul Folk Flea Market] 

Address: 21, Cheonho-daero 4-gil, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul        
Operating hours: 10:00-19:00 (Restaurants in red-dong open till 22:00)        
Closed on Tuesdays        
Get off at Sinseoldong Subway Station and go to Exit 9. Walk to the alley near the Maria Hospital to find this market

【TOP 3 Eateries at Seoul Folk Flea Market】

ⓒKorea Tourism Contents Lab

Beef Rice Soup      
 A reviewer says, "I usually don’t like beef rice soup, but this is the only place I will eat it." The milk-colored soup contains a lot of chewy meat. At a reasonably good price, you can enjoy one of the best meals of the day. If you’re visiting Seoul Folk Flea Market, find a restaurant serving beef rice soup in the red-dong.

Top 3 Stews of Korea       
 Kimchi stew, soybean paste stew, and soft tofu stew, which are served in an earthen pot, are soul foods for Koreans. On top of that, a bowl of freshly cooked rice and delicious side dishes will make your meal perfect. The red-dong houses restaurants that serve such delicious dishes and charge only KRW 6,000 won (less than 6 dollars).

Yongdu-dong Webfoot Octopus Alley      
 Go across the street from Seoul Folk Flea Market to find a small alley, which smells delicious and spicy. Honam Restaurant (former Na Jeong-soon Halmae Jugumi) is the most famous, but all the other restaurants here also use fresh webfoot octopus, which is stir-fried with delicious spicy seasoning. The Korean way of finishing this yummy meal is to have fried rice with the leftover seasoning.      
 

【Places to Visit】

Cheonggyecheon      
 From Seoul Folk Flea Market, walk straight to reach the Cheonggyecheon Stream. In commemoration of the restoration of the Cheonggyecheon Stream, 20,000 citizens joined the project to decorate the wall of hope with engraved tiles. This wall will serve as a marker to show you’ve come the right way. From here, head to the right to see a wide range of things starting from Jongno all the way upstream to  Cheonggyecheon Square. Go to the left to enjoy other interesting things such as Dumul Bridge, the marriage proposal wall, and the shanty house zone. The night view is beautiful too, so let's take a slow walk in this neighborhood.

Address: Changsin-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul      
Operating hours: Open 24 hr      
Closed: N/A (open all year round)

DDP    
 Dongdaemun Design Plaza has helped to turn Dongdaemun, a former metropolitan fashion mecca, into a design center. Architect Zaha Hadid represented Dongdaemun's dynamics in the Dongdaemun Design Plaza with its smooth edges, curved surfaces, diagonal lines and slopes. The place is almost always busy with big exhibitions such as Seoul Fashion Week, MAMA, and the Seoul Urban Architecture Biennale, as well as numerous forums and conferences. This makes it a perfect spot for you to have your aesthetic sense recharged during a trip. The access road to Eoullim Square at sunset is a well-known photo spot so make sure to capture the mysterious changes in light during the magical hour at dusk.

Address: 281, Eulji-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul    
Inquiries: +82-2-2153-0000    
Operating hours: 10:00-20:00    
Closed: January 1 / Seollal (Lunar New Year’s Day) / Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving Day)

Ikseon-dong  
 Ikseon-dong gained popularity as a hanok attraction following Bukchon and Seochon. You can enjoy the beauty of small hanoks whose eaves meet each other in a narrow alley. The whole day will elapse in a moment as you eat lunch, drink tea, foresee the future with tarot card readings, play games in the arcade, and take pictures at the self-photo studio. You can also stop by one of the food stalls lining the streets near Jongno 3(sam)-ga Subway Station (near Exit 3, 4, 6, 7, and 8). Let's fully enjoy the moment. Carpe diem!

Address: Supyo-ro 28-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul  
Inquiries: Bukinsa-dong Tourist Information Center +82-2-734-0222 / Naminsa-dong Tourist Information Center +82-2-737-7885  
Operating hours: Varies by shop