Gone but Remembered: The Hwanghak-dong Flea Market
2026, February 14th
For about half a century, Hwanghak-dong held one of Seoul's most famous secondhand markets. The Cheonggyecheon restoration pushed most of its vendors out in the 2000s, and what's left today is a quieter street of used kitchen equipment.
People called it many names: the Ant Market, the Goblin Market, the Everything Market, the Junk Market, and the Last Market.
Before the market took over, from the 1940s to the 1970s, Hwanghak-dong was known as a home for storytellers and folk singers. After the Korean War, military supplies changed hands along the stream. By the 1970s, antiques from all over the country were flowing in, and some were reportedly of national-treasure quality. Through the 1980s, the stalls stretched along Cheonggyecheon in the shadow of the elevated highway.
The end came with the Cheonggyecheon restoration that began in 2003. The city tore up the road and cracked down on street stalls, and some vendors physically pushed back against the construction barriers. Most eventually left. Many moved to a flea market at the old Dongdaemun Stadium, and later to the Seoul Folk Flea Market in Sinseol-dong. Others set up around Dongmyo, which is why Dongmyo is a vintage-shopping street today.
Hwanghak-dong didn't go completely quiet. Its used kitchen equipment street is still here, where craftsmen repair secondhand restaurant furniture for its next owner.