Legless crabs, churlish merchants spark backlash against famous fish market

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Legless crabs, churlish merchants spark backlash against famous fish market

Published: 06 Dec. 2023, 18:07

A screen capture of a YouTube video that recorded the voice of a merchants at the Soraepogu fish market in Incheon who was rude. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Incheon’s most famous fish market, Soraepogu, is once again mired in controversy, this time over a store owner’s rude behavior.

Merchants at the fish market are already accused of switching purchased items and overcharging customers.

A YouTube video of a rude fishmonger at Soraepogu uploaded on Nov. 30 has gone viral.

The nearly 9-minute video tours the fish market, including its busy blue crab stalls.

Early in the video, the YouTuber's wife asks a merchant how much the crabs cost.

The merchant first asks another fishmonger if she wants to answer the question, seemingly not wanting to be bothered. Then she annoyedly replies, "Why even ask if you're not going to buy?"

Hearing this, the YouTuber asks his wife if the comment was directed at her, to which she replies it was.

The YouTuber writes that although not all fishmongers are so rude, it's frustrating that customers must tolerate such behavior, adding that rude merchants should be kicked out of the market.

The YouTuber said he had wanted to avoid traditional markets after an unpleasant incident at Daemyeong port in Gimpo, Gyeonggi, but decided to visit the fish market in Incheon after hearing rumors that the blue crabs were really cheap.

In an earlier YouTube video, the YouTuber claimed a fishmonger at Daemyeong port gave him just four small octopuses, or nakji, when he had paid for five.

Soraepogu fish market merchants apologizing to the public for questionable business practices including selling crabs that are missing more than a single leg in front of the market on June 14. [YONHAP]

Fishmongers at Soraepogu in June held a campaign vowing not to tout or overcharge customers.

The campaign came after the public heaped opprobrium on the market for dodgy business practices.

In May, a post accused a fishmonger at Soraepogu of switching intact crabs with ones missing legs when packaging them in the box.

Another post on an online community a month later claimed that a fishmonger at Soraepogu sold 2 kilograms of crabs with missing legs for 60,000 won ($45). Some of the crabs had two to five legs missing. One crab only had a single leg.

The backlash only grew after the head of the market essentially told the public to stop complaining.

In an interview with Yonhap, Soraepogu Market head Shin Young-chul said it was common for crabs to lose some of their legs when sold.
He claimed that just because a crab is missing a few legs doesn't mean the product is seriously flawed.

Another fishmonger looked at the photo of the legless crabs and said the crustaceans were fresh because they had clean bellies.

Gwangjang Market, a major traditional market in central Seoul, is also being slammed for overcharging tourists.

Pictures of crabs with missing legs purchased at a store at the Soraepogu fish market in Incheon in June. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Gwangjang Market is one of the city's hottest tourist destinations, drawing even global celebrities like Chef Gordon Ramsey.

In a recent video uploaded on YouTube, a YouTuber with two friends, including a Vietnamese visitor, were charged 15,000 won for 10 bite-size pieces of Korean pancake at the market.

The video shows the store owner repeatedly asking them to order more.

Since the video went viral and questions emerged over the business practices of the market's merchants, Seoul's city government announced it would introduce a system to improve pricing transparency at the traditional market to prevent the overcharging of tourists.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]