Tongin Market통인시장

About this place

Tongin Market opened in June 1941, during the Japanese occupation, as a public market for the Japanese residents living in this part of Seoul, and became the market it is today when Korean street vendors gathered here after the Korean War. It sits in the Seochon alleys west of Gyeongbokgung Palace and runs to some 70 shops, mostly eateries and side-dish sellers. At the market's lunchbox cafe, the yeopjeon dosirak has you swap cash for brass tokens modelled on old coins, walk the market picking whichever side dishes you want, and build your own lunchbox. Gireum tteokbokki, fried in oil rather than sauced with gochujang, is the market's long-standing speciality. Gyeongbokgung Station on Line 3 is close by, which makes the market easy to combine with a walk through the Seochon backstreets.

Good to know

Address

18 Jahamun-ro 15-gil, Jongno-gu, Seoul

Hours

Varies by shop

The market as a whole runs 07:00-21:00, with each shop keeping its own hours. The only regular closure is the third Sunday of the month; it trades normally on every other Sunday. The lunchbox cafe behind the brass-token experience opens Wednesday to Monday 11:00-15:00, extending to 16:00 on Saturdays and Sundays, and closes every Tuesday and on the third Sunday of the month. Enquiries +82-2-722-0911. Both websites the merchants' association previously used have gone offline, so the Seoul Tourism Organization page is now the reference for operating information.

Sources

Confirmed 2 October 2026

• korean.visitseoul.net

Find more photos

Photo spots nearby

• Seochon Village5 min by transit
• Gwanghwamun Square13 min by transit
• Jogyesa Temple15 min by transit
• Seoul Metropolitan Library16 min by transit
• National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul17 min by transit
• Changuimun Gate18 min by transit