|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
bondjimbond
Joined: 29 Dec 2007
Location: Seoul
|
 Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 5:49 am Post subject: Dongdaemun Stadium? |
 |
|
I was in the Dongdaemun Stadium flea market one Sunday some time ago, and it was bizarre and wonderful enough for me to want to go back. I went two weeks ago, and either it was closed or I couldn't find the entrance. Then last Saturday I tried again... same deal.
Does anybody know when this place could be reliably found open? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
the_beaver
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
|
| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 5:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Do you mean the little one running on the south side of 청게천 on the far eastern part of the market? I think it's been ripped down. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Holyjoe
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: Away for a cuppa
|
| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 6:31 am Post subject: |
|
|
The entire Dongdaemun Stadium sports complex is to be ripped down extremely soon, and replaced with some sort of "fashion plaza" which is far more useful but, as a bit of a football romantic, it is sad to see one of the few places with considerable sporting history in Korea disappear.
Although you didn't specifically ask about the stadium, checkhere for photos of the place in its heyday... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Confused Canadian
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
|
| Posted: Tue May 06, 2008 7:53 am Post subject: |
|
|
Actually just caught this in the paper today...
| Quote: |
Flea market blossoms under new roof
People may not need old cameras, manual typewriters or a former president's family photographs, but flea markets are nevertheless always bustling with curious shoppers looking for fun.
Some can get lucky and find authentic antique pottery or one-of-a-kind knick knacks while others simply enjoy wandering the aisles of odds and ends.
The Seoul Folk Flea Market, which recently opened under a new roof near Sinseol-dong subway station (Lines No. 1 and 2), breathes the typical adventurer spirit. It has everything from craftwork, decorative stones and specialties from different regions to adult toys, electronics, food courts, clothing and ancient music records.
The new white two-storey building is the third downtown home for used-good traders, who originally hawked their wares on the streets of Cheonggyecheon for decades. Some 73,000 street vendors were forced to leave Cheonggyecheon in 2003 as the city government launched a project to restore the stream. Those from the "dokkaebi sijang" or "goblin's market" were relocated in Dongdaemun Stadium in early 2004, while others nestled in new buildings along the Cheonggye Stream.
Four years later, as the city now plans to tear down the stadium to build a design park, nearly 900 stores have moved to an old school site in Sinseol-dong, two metro stations away from Dongdaemun. There were angry protests against the forced removal from the stadium, resulting in injuries during a scuffle with people hired by the city government. A handful of shopkeepers are still opposing the move but most have settled in.
French residents in Seoul, Alix and Cedric Klein, browse in the Seoul Folk Flea Market. [Kim So-hyun/The Korea Herald]
"The new facility is nice and clean but the location is bad," said Hong Il-moon, who has been selling Chinese antiques for 20 years. "There aren't many passersby and we have little parking space."
Whereas Dongdaemun Stadium was in the heart of the city's major shopping district, connected to four subway lines and dozens of buses, the new venue is in the middle of a residential block, a seven-minute walk down the alleys from Sinseol-dong station Exit No. 10.
Times are getting tougher for small-time tradesmen, with the rise of internet shopping malls and soaring prices.
Still, the city government is upbeat about making the market a major international tourist attraction.
"We will make the Seoul Folk Flea Market the city's leading tourist spot," Mayor Oh Se-hoon said at the market's opening on April 26.
"(The city) will provide the merchants with low-interest loans and encourage sales by placing marketing experts."
Seoul City spent over 8 billion won ($8 million) on the structure, which has canopies over a steel framework painted white. It threw auction events featuring celebrities for the opening and placed promotional banners and stickers on buses. A tourist information booth within the market is scheduled to open on May 15.
Sorted into red, orange, yellow and green wings on the ground floor and blue, indigo and purple on the second, the orderly array of shops may have lost their scruffy allure.
"It's a rather closed space with limited access from the people as we no longer have the random spread of vendors like the old times," said Cha Sung-sook, who sells hair pins and other accessories.
Parisians Alix and Cedric Klein, who moved to Seoul three weeks ago, visited the flea market over the weekend.
"It's very interesting to see so many unexpected things here and we will come back after learning some bargaining skills," the couple said.
Kwak Sung-han, who sells traditional crafts in the indigo section, said he offers discounts of up to 20 percent for regulars and foreigners who have a deep interest in Korean culture.
The Seoul Folk Flea Market is open between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. The market is a hundred meters from the Hwanghakgyo bridge across Cheonggyecheon.
By Kim So-hyun
([email protected])
2008.05.06
|
Can't link directly to the article, but it's on the Korea Herald site under the National section. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
bondjimbond
Joined: 29 Dec 2007
Location: Seoul
|
| Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 6:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
Man, I should read the Korean news.
Thanks for the info! I'm glad to know I can still find weird used crap in Seoul. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
