Sounds of loud hawking and cheerful melodies were heard in the most unlikely place of Jongno, in the middle of Seoul. A colorfully dressed pauper put on a one-man show on the street to draw the attention of passers-by. His appearance added more exuberant energy to the already busy streets of Jongno, where the Yukuijeon Festival was held for two days, from September 28th. Yukuijeon referred to six large businesses that were granted exclusive transaction rights during the Joseon Dynasty. Here’s scholar Yang Hyo-ju of the Yukuijeon Museum of History to tell us more.

Yukuijeon refers to six state-affiliated businesses in Seoul during the Joseon era. They are akin to today’s six largest conglomerates. The six businesses each dealt in silk, cotton, ramie fabric, silk threads, paper, and fish.

Yukuijeon was first established back in the fifteenth century during the reign of King Taejong. The market, modeled after the city market of Goryeo’s capital, was set up along the streets of Jongno, which is now around Cheonggyecheon청계천. Here’s Ms. Yang Hyo-joo of the Yukuijeon Museum of History again.

Yukuijeon was a group of government-designated stores. Their jobs were not just to sell goods, but to supply goods to government agencies. So the products sold at yukuijeon were expensive, but of high quality, much like today’s luxury designer brands. Since they were so expensive, only a select group of people had the means to buy them. Ordinary people were not allowed to shop at the market, not only because prices were too high, but also because it was located near Gyeongbok Palace. The market had to be close to the palace and government agencies to supply goods there.

The government gave yukuijeon merchants monopoly rights to certain products. In return for the privilege, the merchants had to pay steep taxes. Here’s Ms. Yang Hyo-joo of the Yukuijeon Museum of History again.

Tax-paying merchants belonged to the authorized market called “sijeon시전” and those who did not pay taxes were part of the unauthorized market called “nanjeon난전.” It was only natural for the king to grant certain privileges to tax-paying merchants. One of the privileges was the sijeon merchants’ absolute right to control the nanjeon merchants. Sijeon merchants were also exempt from serving in the military and being called to forced labor by the state.

With so much money and goods being traded all over the market, yukuijeon was always bustling with merchants and shoppers. Jongno’s old name was Unjong-ga운종가, which means a street where clouds gathered, a telling indication of how busy the marketplace was.

The area was named “Unjong-ga” to imply the multitude of people and goods gathered there like clouds. Also, there was a bell in the area, which rang seven times in the evening. That bell was the signal telling the merchants to close shop.

In the old days yukuijeon used to take up a vast area which stretched from Jongno and Cheonggyecheon and all the way to Namdaemun, but this year’s Yukuijeon Festival is taking place around the Gwangtong광통 Bridge, in the Cheonggye청계 Tourism Zone. It’s appropriate that this festival is taking place in the Cheonggye Tourism Zone, because it is a central commercial district with some 15 thousand stores dealing in various goods, just like the old yukuijeon. The special zone measures 3.54 kilometers in length and this is where the market from 600 years ago is recreated.

The Yukuijeon Festival featured the six types of stores. Except for the fish store, where fresh fish was replaced with dried fish, all the shops were reproduced almost exactly like the originals. The shops transported visitors to the old marketplace in the Joseon era. Here’s Jongno Tourism Zone Council Chairman Jang Byeong-hak장병학 to tell us more.

We have replicated the six types of Yukuijeon stores. In the old days fresh fish would be salted right there at the yukuijeon fish store, so we showed the salting process, too, so visitors can compare the past and present. We also brought a spinning wheel and a loom to show how they were used to spin thread and weave fabric.

The six stores each set up a sign to indicate the items sold there. The old yukuijeon stores used to hang flags, an important part of their identity. Here’s Ms. Yang Hyo-joo of the Yukuijeon Museum of History to tell us more.

The flag indicated a yukuijeon store. It was different from today’s signs that are usually fixed in place all the time. Made out of fabric, the flags were so big that they were hung outside only when needed and to show off the store’s reputation and power. For instance, the silk store would vie with the paper seller to attract more customers, and they would try to outdo each other by hanging a bigger flag than their competitor.



The first stop is the paper vendor. Hanji or Korean traditional paper was one of the necessities of Korean life back then, so the paper shop was always crowded with shoppers. Even today the paper shop is milling with people looking at various items made with hanji. Here’s the market supervisor Jeon Sang-hyeon전상현.

We sell paper here. In the old days hanji was used for many things, including shoe insoles, ropes, and writing paper. But here in this store we used hanji to make some modern items. People are intrigued by our products. They like how the old paper shop was recreated, and now filled with modern things.

A loom was featured in the store where ramie fabric was sold. Famed ramie fabric weaver Yoon Hyang-sook윤향숙 from Boseong came all the way to Seoul to manage the store and demonstrate how the loom was used. Visitors were amazed to see how the threads were weaved on the loom to make fabric. They couldn’t wait to sit at the loom to try their hands at weaving.

One of the visitors moved her feet according to the weaving expert’s instruction, but it was harder than it looked. Ms. Yoon Hyang-sook, who was helping visitors with the loom experience, was saddened that ramie is no longer as popular as it was in the old days.

Ramie is a declining industry. In rural areas only old ladies weave ramie fabrics. They work all day long but don’t make much money. They just do it to pass on the tradition, but the tradition is disappearing fast, because there is no demand for ramie anymore. Ramie clothing is perfect for summer, because it’s so cool. Given the amount of work that goes into weaving ramie fabric, it’s not that pricey. People are amazed that I’m still at it despite all the difficulties.

Visitors were able to make their own ramie pouches here. It was rather sad that the once precious ramie fabric is now used only to hold ingredients for soup stock or bath salts. But perhaps we should take comfort in the fact that ramie fabric is still being used one way or another.

The largest store in yukuijeon was the silk store. The festival thus featured a silk store that was filled with household items made with colorful and elegant silk fabrics. Even the store’s sign was made with lustrous silk to fit its characteristic.

We can’t sell silk fabrics now, but we have items made with silk, such as bojagi보자기, pouches, pin cushions, coasters, and more. People like them because of the colors, variety, and reasonable prices. Foreign tourists especially liked the colors and designs, and bought a lot of coasters.

A Korean tourist was absolutely satisfied with her purchase of silk hair bands for her children.

Aren’t these pretty? I bought five of them to give to my children and their friends. There are so many neat things here. I think older people will like them, especially the brassware. I’ve seen a lot of interesting things.

The only store that sold food items in yukuijeon was the fish store. In this year’s festival the store offered dried fish and seafood instead of fresh ones. Here again is market supervisor Jeon Sang-hyeon.

This is a fish store, but today we just have dried fish available. During the Joseon era they reportedly sold 30 different kinds of fresh fish and seafood. For this festival we only have dried cuttlefish, dried pollock, and dried shrimp.

The most popular item at the fish store was dried laver. It was definitely the favorite of foreign tourists, judging from a long line of foreign customers waiting in front of the store.

The Yukuijeon Festival also invited people to play traditional games, such as kick-the-jegi제기 and spinning the top. These folk games further boosted the cheerful atmosphere of the market and seemed to take middle aged visitors back to their childhood.

I used to spin the top really well when I was little, but after 50 years I can’t seem to get the hang of it. These tops look different from the ones I used to play with, but they still remind me of my childhood. I think I can get the hang of it again with a little practice.

Today’s yukuijeon may not be as extensive and booming as the actual one during the Joseon era, but people were still impressed by the traditional goods and special events made available at the festival.

There is still a stone monument near the Tapgol Park in Jongno, which marks the old site of yukuijeon. In the basement of the building right next to it is the Yukuijeon Museum of History, where the relics excavated from the original yukuijeon site are on display. Here’s Ms. Yang Hyo-joo of the museum to explain.

The area around Jongno underwent renovation starting in 2003, and this building was included in the rehab plan. But when construction began, the workers found a cornerstone on January 1, 2004. The construction work was stopped immediately and an inspection was launched to assess the cultural value of this site. The first excavation unearthed a market site from the sixteenth century and the second round of excavation uncovered one from the fifteenth century.

The museum has placed glass over the old market sites to show visitors what the actual market site looked like. Visitors, wearing booties instead of their shoes, can walk over the glass to see how big the market was. The Yukuijeon Museum and Yukuijeon Festival are playing a big part in reminding people that the Jongno area used to be the center of Joseon Dynasty’s market commerce.

That concludes today’s Trend Korea. This is Bonnie Choi signing off. Thank you and good bye.