Gwangjang Market: Getting There, Hours, What to Eat and Prices

How do you get to Gwangjang Market?

Take Line 1 to Jongno 5-ga Station and leave by exit 8. Visit Seoul puts the market about 60m from that exit, and the Seoul Metropolitan Government names exit 8 as the way in.

From Line 2 or Line 5, use Euljiro 4-ga Station instead. Jongno-gu Office puts the market about 100m from exit 4.

The address is 88 Changgyeonggung-ro, Jongno-gu. The Korea Tourism Organization lists the market's East Gate, North Gate 2 and South Gate 1 as its entrances. Each subway ride costs from 1,550 won on a transit card, and Seoul subway fares and transfers explains how changing lines is charged.

When is the food alley open, and when are the shops?

The food alley runs from 9am to 11pm every day of the year. The rest of the market, the fabric, clothing and bedding shops, opens from 9am to 6pm and closes on Sundays, according to the Korea Tourism Organization and Visit Seoul.

That split decides when to go. An evening visit is for eating only. If you also want the fabric floor, arrive before 6pm on a Monday to Saturday.

Individual stalls do not all run to 11pm. Soonhee's Bindaetteok, one of the pancake stalls listed by both the Korea Tourism Organization and Visit Seoul, closes at 9pm, with last orders at 8:30pm according to the Korea Tourism Organization. Arrive by early evening if a particular stall matters to you.

What is Gwangjang Market known for?

Mung bean pancakes, mayak gimbap and beef tartare. Those three are the dishes the Seoul Metropolitan Government names for the market, and Visit Seoul adds tteokbokki, fish cake, Korean sausage (sundae) and meatballs.

Bindaetteok is a pancake of ground mung beans. The Korea Tourism Organization describes Soonhee's Bindaetteok grinding the beans on a millstone and mixing them with kimchi, bracken and pork before frying them on the spot, served with a soy dipping sauce.

Mayak gimbap, which Visit Seoul translates as "addictive gimbap", is the market's small-roll version of gimbap. Yukhoe is Korean beef tartare. Creatrip's market guide also lists kalguksu, knife-cut noodle soup, and says the Gohyang Kalguksu stall serves it with or without dumplings.

These names come from official tourism pages and Creatrip's guide, not from our own ranking. The alley has dozens of stalls selling the same dishes, and none of them is the only place to try a pancake.

How do ordering and paying work?

Each stall is its own business, with its own menu and prices. You order from the stall you sit at, and pay that stall, which is why every complaint below concerns a single stall rather than the market.

Carry some cash as well as a card. The Korea Tourism Organization lists cards as accepted at the market, and at Soonhee's Bindaetteok. Creatrip's guide still advises bringing cash because some stalls may not take foreign cards, and the market is a traditional one where the rule is stall by stall.

Related guideHow to Pay in Korea: Cards, Cash and TransitForeign cards work in most Korean shops. They fail at market stalls, on Korean websites and at the subway gate, and each of those gaps has its own workaround.

How much does a meal cost?

Snack-sized plates cost a few thousand won each. Korea JoongAng Daily reported in December 2025 that tteokbokki cost 4,000 won for six pieces and sundae 7,000 won for nine at stalls in the market. Visit Seoul calls most dishes reasonably priced.

Prices change without notice, so read the board before you order. A plate of mixed pancakes at 15,000 won was at the centre of the 2023 complaints described below, and The Korea Herald reported a 2025 dispute over sundae listed at 8,000 won and charged at 10,000 won.

What problems do visitors report?

Overcharging at some stalls, and pressure to order more. The Korea Times reported that in November 2023 a travel YouTuber's video showed a 15,000-won plate of mixed pancakes that was unusually small, with the merchant pushing the group to order extra. The merchants' association suspended that stall for 10 days.

The response then was voluntary. From January 2024, seven pancake stalls agreed to show the quantity next to the price, district officials planned mystery-shopper checks, and the scheme was to expand to about 15 nearby stores.

It did not end the complaints. The Korea Herald reported that in November 2025 a YouTuber said she was charged 10,000 won for sundae listed at 8,000 won, and that the two merchant associations then fell out publicly. AJU PRESS reported in April 2026 a vendor charging a foreign YouTuber 2,000 won for a bottle of water.

The rules are firmer now. Seoul Shinmun reported that Seoul and Jongno-gu started a real-name system for the market's street stalls on 1 June 2026. Overcharging or reusing food earns penalty points, and a stall that passes 120 points in a year, or breaks the rules four times, can lose its permit. A 20-person team of mystery shoppers, foreigners among them, checks for overcharging and forced sales.

Three habits keep you clear of the problem. Check the posted price and portion before ordering, order only what you want, and pay the stall at the price on its board. If something goes wrong, the 1330 Korea Travel Hotline (+82-2-1330) takes calls in Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese.

Should you go with a food tour?

Our pick is to go on your own. The market is a short walk from the subway, the dishes are named on the boards, and the rules above cover the risks.

A guided evening makes sense if you would rather someone else ordered. The small-group night food tour below is a guided walk through Jongno with a Korean barbecue stop, where the guide handles the ordering, plus soju and makgeolli. Its listing does not promise a stop at Gwangjang Market, so book it for the barbecue, not for the market.

Tour · Viator

Small-group night food tour in Seoul with Korean BBQ

A guided evening walk through Jongno with a Korean barbecue stop, where the guide handles the ordering, plus soju and makgeolli.

Check availability on Viator

Related guideKorean BBQ: What to Order and How It WorksThe cuts on a Korean BBQ menu in Hangul and English, how a serving is priced by weight, the two-serving minimum, free banchan refills, wraps, finishing dishes and drinking manners.

How does Gwangjang fit into a Seoul trip?

As dinner at the end of a palace day. The Seoul 3-day itinerary walks from Gyeongbokgung through Bukchon to Changdeokgung, then takes Line 3 and Line 1 to Jongno 5-ga for the market.

Related guideSeoul in 3 Days: An Itinerary for a First VisitThree full days in Seoul for a first visit: two palaces and a market on day one, the DMZ and Hongdae on day two, Namsan on day three, with closing days checked.

A hotel on Line 1, or around Jongno, puts the market a short ride from your door on any evening.

More of the city is in the Seoul travel guide.