Namgwangju Market

In Hak-dong, Dong-gu, right beside the subway station of the same name, Namgwangju Market is a market that grew up on its own in front of a railway station. Trains no longer stop here, but the market is still known for the fresh fish that arrives every night, and locals come for the day's catch served as raw fish at modest prices.

A market made by the railway

Right next to the market stood Namgwangju Station on the Gyeongjeon Line. A market formed naturally outside the station and became a collection point for produce and seafood from southern South Jeolla, from places such as Hwasun and Boseong. When the city-centre railway was relocated in 2000 and the station closed, the market went through a difficult period, but the fresh fish that still arrives every morning has kept it busy. The old station is also often mentioned as the model for the small country station in Gwak Jae-gu's poem "At Sapyeong Station".

What to see

• Dawn seafood: the fish comes in every day between 2 and 5 a.m. Early in the morning you can watch vendors cleaning and preparing the fresh catch.
• Raw fish restaurants: many places will slice the day's fish into hoe (Korean sashimi) on the spot, at fairly low prices.
• Vegetables and household goods: it is a general market too, selling vegetables, fruit, dried fish, tableware and clothing. The lanes where older women lay out greens on the ground have a warm, old-fashioned feel.

Life after the trains left

After the old station closed, the market turned the memory of the railway into its story. The Namgwangju Night Train Market, which opened in 2016 with funding from a national night-market programme, was built around 30 train-shaped mobile stalls and 10 food trucks, with tunnel-like signs and decorations recalling Namgwangju Station in the 1960s to 1980s. By day the market serves local shoppers buying the morning's fish and vegetables; in the evenings it drew night-market visitors. The night market opened on Friday and Saturday evenings; check whether and when it is running before you go. Hakdong Market is close to Exit 1 of the subway station, so you can visit both.

Tripto tips

• Getting there: Exit 3 of Namgwangju Station on Gwangju Metro Line 1 is closest to the market.
• Closed: the market closes on the first and third Sunday of each month; individual shop hours vary.
• Best time: early morning to see the fish, lunchtime or early evening for a raw fish meal.
• Time needed: about 45 minutes to look around, or 2 hours with a meal.
• Combine with: about a 10-minute walk away is Yangnim-dong History and Culture Village, with its early missionary houses, and about 1 km north is the Asia Culture Center.
• By metro: one stop from Namgwangju is Munhwa Jeondang (for the Asia Culture Center), and one stop the other way is Hakdong·Jeungsimsa-ipgu, the gateway to Jeungsimsa Temple and the Mudeungsan trails – easy to combine in a day.
• Paying: cash is often easier at stalls and small shops. If you plan to buy fish to take away, bring a cool bag or ice box.