How a Korean traditional market actually works

A traditional market — sijang — is a covered or semi-covered street of small stalls selling produce, dried goods, prepared food, clothing and household items. Most towns have one, and it is usually the oldest commercial part of the town.

For a visitor the draw is the food. Market food is cheap, made in front of you, and strongly regional: the same dish will be prepared differently two provinces apart.

Some markets have become tourist destinations in their own right, with English signage and long queues. Most have not, and those are the more interesting ones.

Food stalls are busiest and freshest around lunch. Many produce sellers pack up in the late afternoon, and by early evening a daytime market can be half shut.

Some rural markets are five-day markets, operating only on dates ending in certain numbers. Turning up on the wrong day means finding an empty street. If you are travelling specifically for a market, confirm which days it runs.

Night markets are a separate thing and run on their own schedule, usually weekends.

Most stalls have no menu at all — the food is visible and you point at it. This removes the language problem almost entirely.

Where there is a menu it will be handwritten in Korean. A phone camera and a translation app handle it, though the results for regional dish names are often comic.

Prices are generally fixed and displayed. Haggling is normal for clothing and bulk produce, and not normal for prepared food.

Bring cash in small denominations. Many stalls do take cards now, but the older sellers often do not, and breaking a fifty-thousand note at a stall selling three-thousand-won snacks is awkward.

Seating is communal and shared tables are standard. Sitting down beside strangers is expected rather than intrusive.

Markets are one of the few places in Korea where an older stallholder may strike up a conversation with a foreign visitor. Accepting the offered sample is the correct response.