Gwangjang Market Guide: Getting There, Sunday Hours, Prices & Paying

Gwangjang Market is a traditional market next to Jongno 5-ga Station, and its food alley (bindaetteok, yukhoe, gimbap) is what most travelers come for. On Sundays the general shops close and only the food alley opens; payment methods and prices vary stall by stall; and overcharging disputes have made the news more than once. Here is which exit to use, opening days, prices (with the date of each source), how to pay, the price rules now in force, and what to do if you are overcharged.

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Last checked: 2026-10-12·Desk-researched — not yet verified on site

1. 1Getting there: Exit 8 officially, Exit 7 for the food alley

   The address is 88 Changgyeonggung-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul. The market's own website and VisitSeoul point to Exit 8 of Jongno 5-ga Station (Line 1), and VisitSeoul puts the market 62m from that exit. From Euljiro 4-ga Station (Lines 2 and 5) the official directions use Exit 4. Exit 8 is measured to the market's main address, though: Kakao Map puts the food-alley stalls (Monyeo Gimbap, Bakga-ne, Sunhee-ne, Gohyang Kalguksu) 100–160m from Jongno 5-ga Station Exit 7 instead. The food alley is around the East Gate, North Gate 2 and South Gate 1; South Gate 1 is the entrance on the Cheonggyecheon side. The market has no parking of its own; visitors are pointed to the Jongmyo public car park at Jongno 4-ga.

2. 2Opening hours: on Sundays only the food alley opens

   According to VisitSeoul (October 2026), the market runs 09:00–18:00, the food alley 09:00–23:00, and the second-floor vintage clothing arcade 10:00–19:00. On Sundays the general shops (fabric, hanbok, the vintage arcade) close, while the food alley is open every day of the year (a 2017 notice on the market website says the same; the vintage arcade opens on public holidays). Kakao Map shows the whole market open 09:00–18:00 every day including Sunday, which does not match the other sources. The 23:00 is the alley's hours: many stalls close at 21:00–22:00, and each has its own days off. Kakao Map, checked 12 October 2026: Bakga-ne Bindaetteok main shop 08:00–22:00 daily; Monyeo Gimbap 09:00–21:00 daily (closed on the day of Seollal and of Chuseok); Buchon Yukhoe main shop 10:00–21:30 daily; Sunhee-ne Bindaetteok 11:00–21:00, closed Tuesdays; Gohyang Kalguksu 09:00–21:00, closed Mondays. The Starbucks inside the market, "Starbucks Gwangjang Market", was open 09:30–22:00 daily, per a June 2025 article.

3. 3What to eat and what it costs

   VisitSeoul's list of signature dishes: bindaetteok (mung-bean pancake), mixed jeon, gimbap, sundae with pork head meat, yukhoe (beef tartare) and donggeurangttaeng (meat patties). A March 2026 on-site report found snack-type food mostly around ₩5,000 and most other dishes around ₩10,000. Prices by stall (menu item update date in brackets), all from Kakao Map unless noted: Sunhee-ne Bindaetteok — mung-bean pancake ₩6,000 and one meatball patty ₩4,000 (2026-06-08), mixed platter ₩16,000 (2026-07-08). Bakga-ne Bindaetteok main shop — stone-ground pancake ₩6,000 and yukhoe ₩23,000 (2026-07-16), mixed jeon ₩20,000 and meat pancake ₩10,000 (2026-06-24), sundae ₩7,000 (2026-03-31). Buchon Yukhoe main shop — yukhoe ₩23,000, yukhoe bibimbap (regular) ₩11,000 (2026-03-24). Gohyang Kalguksu — kalguksu ₩7,000, sujebi ₩8,000, dumpling soup ₩8,000 (2026-10-07). Monyeo Gimbap's mayak gimbap is ₩4,000 on Naver's menu (June 2026) and in an October 2026 visit review, but Kakao Map shows ₩3,000 (2026-06-23). As a Seoul city article puts it, the same dish costs different amounts at different stalls, so read the menu board before you order. Netflix's "Street Food: Asia" (2019) featured the market's food stalls in its Seoul episode.

   Monyeo Gimbap →

4. 4Paying: more stalls take cards, but carry small cash

   There is no official figure for how many stalls take foreign cards or Apple Pay. In a September 2024 YTN check, 3 of the 5 shops visited refused cards, some even with a card terminal on the counter. In November 2025 the merchants' association said it was speeding up QR menus, priced menus and card payment, and a report that month said a payment-agency service had been brought in for some 70 stalls that struggled to take cards. In an on-site report the same month, Jongno-gu said on 6 November that it had found 80% of stalls taking cards, but when the reporter tried to pay that same day only 1 of 10 stalls said a card would work. Vendors in the food area near the East Gate said they all took cards, but most stalls in other sections took only cash, Onnuri gift vouchers or bank transfer, and even some stalls that said they took cards pushed for cash or a transfer. In March 2026 vendors were calling out "Credit card OK", but some stalls had bank account numbers posted to steer customers to transfers. Kakao Map lists Zero Pay at Sunhee-ne Bindaetteok and Monyeo Gimbap. Zero Pay itself runs on Korean bank accounts, but Zero Pay merchants have accepted Alipay and Alipay+ since September 2023 (see the Alipay & WeChat Pay guide); whether it actually works at these two stalls is unconfirmed. Carry some small notes for when a card does not go through; the cash guide covers how much.

5. 5Overcharging cases and the rules that now apply

   In November 2023 a travel YouTuber's video showed a skimpy ₩15,000 mixed-jeon plate and a vendor pushing for extra orders; the merchants' association suspended that stall for 10 days. In November 2025 a stall that mixed meat into an ₩8,000 "large sundae" and then asked ₩10,000 was suspended for 10 days (10–19 November), and in April 2026 a stall that asked ₩2,000 for water got a 3-day suspension; both were disciplinary measures by the merchants' association. An August 2026 report had a reporter posing as a foreigner pay ₩1,500 for bottled water listed at ₩1,000, at a stall that kept two menu boards, one at ₩1,000 and one at ₩2,000. The rules depend on the kind of business. For street stalls, Jongno-gu's stall real-name system (its stall management rules) has applied in full since 1 June 2026: violations bring first- to third-strike administrative action and penalty points, and four or more violations within the permit period, or more than 120 points, cancel the stall's road-occupancy permit. That same August report, though, found zero penalty points issued in about three months, and Jongno-gu said it was starting on-site enforcement in earnest that week. Registered restaurants fall under the Food Sanitation Act Enforcement Rule in force since 1 September 2026: not posting a price list, or charging something other than the posted price, means a 5-day business suspension for a first offence, 10 days for a second and 20 for a third. Reports say the street stalls have no business permit under the Food Sanitation Act, so this rule does not reach them.

6. 6Before you order: QR menus and four-language price lists

   Between May and July 2024 Jongno-gu added QR menus to 88 food stalls; at launch (2024) they showed a photo of the actual portion and the price in 20 languages. A March 2026 on-site report found most stalls in the market using the same green signboards and price lists in Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese. Check the price and portion on the price list or QR menu before ordering, and if the price you are quoted differs, point to the list and ask. The alleys are narrow, so a queue and passing foot traffic are hard to tell apart: do not join on the strength of the first few people, find the end of the line. The popular stalls can have queues starting right at the entrance.

7. 7Toilets

   Kakao Map lists the "Gwangjang Traditional Market customer support center open toilet" (21 Jong-ro 32-gil, floors 1–3), 154m from Jongno 5-ga Station Exit 7; no hours are shown. Kakao Map also marks in-shop toilets at Bakga-ne Bindaetteok main shop, Sunhee-ne Bindaetteok and Buchon Yukhoe main shop, but whether non-customers may use them is unconfirmed. The station toilets are outside the ticket gates: at Jongno 5-ga (Line 1) on B1 by the passage to the underground arcade, on the Exit 8 side, and at Euljiro 4-ga (Lines 2 and 5), both open 05:00–24:00. The Dongdaemun toilets page on this site has more.