Market relocating back toward stream

The country’s largest secondhand street market will be relocated from Dongdaemun Stadium to Sinseol-dong near the Cheonggye Stream, the Seoul city government announced yesterday.
The market, selling secondhand goods and antiques, was originally located in Hwanghak-dong, Jung District, next to the Cheonggye Stream, which was then covered by a road.
In January 2004, the market’s 900 street vendors were moved into a soccer stadium in Dongdaemun after Lee Myung-bak, then mayor of Seoul, decided to restore the stream.
Last year, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the demolition of Dongdaemun Stadium to transform the area into a fashion street with a park, enraging the street vendors who were faced with eviction again.
The street vendors yesterday reached an agreement with the city to move to a 5,056-square-meter empty lot in Sinseol-dong, 350 meters from the popular Cheonggye Stream. The land was the playground of Soongin Girls’ Middle School. The school relocated in 2005 and the building is now used by the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education.
Spending 3 billion won ($3.1 million), the city vowed to transform the new marketplace into a tourist attraction for domestic and foreign visitors by March next year.

By Kim Soe-jung Staff Writer [soejung@joongang.co.kr]