Daejeon Jungang Market

Step off the KTX at Daejeon Station, cross the plaza, and you are already in Daejeon Jungang Market. From the station forecourt to the banks of the Daejeoncheon stream, a string of large and small markets joins up into one huge shopping district, often described as the biggest traditional market in central Korea. It works both as a quick stop while you wait for a train and as a half-day wander through its alleys.

A wholesale market made by the railway

Daejeon grew up around the railway, and the market right in front of the station long served as a wholesale hub linking the Gyeongsang and Jeolla regions. Today it is a union of several markets, including Jungang Comprehensive Market, Jungang Arcade Market, Jayu Wholesale Market, New Jungang Market and Jungang Wholesale Market. Many shops have been in the same spot for more than 30 years.

Each alley has its own character

• Fish alley: once nicknamed "Daejeon's sea" in a city with no coastline, it is still lined with fishmongers and dried-seafood shops.
• Second-hand bookshop street: stacks of old books and textbooks give a taste of the old town centre.
• Tableware wholesalers and hanbok street: shops sell everything from restaurant crockery to everyday ceramics in bulk, and another alley specialises in hanbok.
• Food alley: restaurants serving market staples such as sundae, gukbap, jeon and kalguksu (knife-cut noodles) are clustered together.
• Arcade roof: in one section, traditional-patterned lanterns and a decorated drum hang beneath the glass dome, so it is worth looking up.

From the station to the stream

Daejeon grew into a transport hub after the Gyeongbu railway line arrived in 1905 and the Honam Line later branched off here. Today the market still stretches across several blocks from the station forecourt to the Daejeoncheon embankment, with each alley clearly devoted to its own trade. Many things, such as tableware and dried seafood, are much cheaper bought wholesale, so plenty of people still come here to stock up their homes.

Tripto tips

• Getting there: get off at Daejeon Station on Daejeon Metro Line 1, or at the KTX/mainline station, and cross to the opposite side of the station plaza. Plenty of city buses, including express routes 1 and 2, stop at Daejeon Station.
• Parking: there are three public car parks (in the Shinhan Bank building, the public parking building next to the former Dong-gu Office, and on the site of the former Jeil Theatre). With a parking voucher from a market shop, up to 120 minutes are free.
• Parking fees: the public car parks are listed at KRW 500 for 30 minutes, KRW 900 for 1 hour and KRW 1,800 for 2 hours.
• Hours: each shop sets its own, so mid-morning to early evening is the easiest time to look around.
• Time needed: 1–2 hours for the alleys and a meal; half a day if you browse the bookshops and tableware streets in detail.
• Combine with: cross the Daejeoncheon beyond the market and you are in Eunhaeng-dong and Daeheung-dong, the old town with its early modern buildings.
• Between trains: the market entrance is right across the station plaza, so even an hour before your train is enough for a meal in the food alley. Leave large bags in the station lockers – the lanes are narrow.
• Paying: larger shops take cards, but cash is often easier at stalls and small shops.