Korea's Public Markets: 5일장
Whenever we travel to Korea, Eddo and I make it a serious point to visit as many local 재래시장 traditional markets referred to as 5일장, or fifth day public markets. In Korea, the public market culture is a particularly vibrant one, where “farmers”, essentially local community growers, fisherman, sea & land foragers, makers & artisans specializing in such specific thing, bring what they have and sell to the local community and some roving travelers like myself. It’s a serious vibe and where you’ll find the most authentic flavors, local foods, and attitudes. And interestingly in format, these markets happen every five days, in different neighboring towns in almost all sub-regions across Korea. As such, you don’t have to go far to find the next day 5일장.
For instance, in Namwon, where we traveled to last week in Jeollanamdo (the southern region of the penninsula where arguably the best foods and talented chefs come from), the 5일장 Namwon Chunhyangol Public Market 남원춘향공걸시장 occurs on 4, 9, 14, 1…