The Lunar New Year holiday is just three weeks away.
Accordingly, each autonomous district in Seoul is busy preparing for the Lunar New Year. Preparations include opening direct transaction markets, operating pet dog rest shelters, and conducting hygiene inspections.
Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jo Seong-myeong) will hold a ‘Lunar New Year Agricultural, Livestock, and Marine Products Direct Transaction Market’ on the 31st from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the district office parking lot.
The market, attended by about 80 farms from over 50 locations nationwide, will sell regional specialties such as Korean beef, pears, apples, and dried yellow corvina at a 10% discount compared to market prices.
Additionally, a parcel delivery service (4,000 KRW) will be available until 4 p.m. for convenient shopping.
On the day of the event, the first 2,024 customers who present receipts for purchases over 10,000 KRW will receive 500g of newly harvested rice as a gift. Free knife sharpening services will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis, and a food market selling various snacks such as tteokbokki, sikhye, and buchimgae will be operated.
For residents who find it difficult to visit on the day of the event, pre-orders will be accepted from the 18th to the 24th. Customers can check the items on the district office website and leaflets available at 22 community centers, then place orders by phone or in person at their respective community centers. Pre-ordered items will be delivered sequentially by parcel starting on the 29th.
Yangcheon-gu (District Mayor Lee Gi-jae) announced that it will operate the ‘2024 Lunar New Year Direct Transaction Market’ for two days from February 1 to 2 at Yangcheon Park to celebrate the nation’s biggest holiday, Seollal.
This market will feature the largest-ever participation with 59 farms from 39 local governments nationwide, including sister cities Ganghwa-gun, Buyeo-gun, Wando-gun, and Hwasun-gun, promising a more abundant market than ever before.
Notably, six new local governments will join this year, including ▲Ulleung-gun, Gyeongbuk (Myeongi pickled vegetables, squid) ▲Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon (mushrooms, pine nuts, cordyceps) ▲Danyang-gun, Chungbuk (fermented black garlic, wild greens), offering a wider variety of products.
At the direct transaction market, consumers can purchase high-quality local specialties and holiday ritual foods such as seasonal fruits, Korean beef, seafood, sesame oil, and traditional sweets at reasonable prices on-site.
The district will enhance customer satisfaction by providing self-packaging booths equipped with packaging boxes and a one-hour free parking ticket (for the public parking lot in front of the market) to customers who make purchases.
In particular, if the delivery address for purchased items is within Yangcheon-gu, same-day free delivery service will be provided to improve convenience.
Yeongdeungpo-gu (District Mayor Choi Ho-kwon) announced that it will conduct a five-day food hygiene inspection starting on the 29th to provide safe food to residents in preparation for the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday.
The district conducts annual food hygiene inspections for the health and safety of residents, and this inspection will focus intensively on ‘Korean beef,’ which is expected to see a surge in demand ahead of the holiday.
The district will form inspection teams of two people, including consumer food hygiene monitors, and select 10 newly opened or previously unvisited Korean beef restaurants to maximize the effectiveness of the inspections.
Main inspection items include ▲Korean beef genetic testing ▲Verification of proper origin labeling ▲Contamination checks of cooking facilities (ATP measurement), and overall hygiene inspections will be conducted alongside sample testing.
Dobong-gu (District Mayor Oh Eon-seok) announced that it will conduct inspections on about 260 establishments, including instant sales manufacturing and processing businesses, food service businesses, and livestock product handlers that manufacture and sell ritual foods with high consumption during the Lunar New Year, until February 2.
Main inspection items include ▲Storage and sale of expired products ▲Hygienic handling of food ▲Compliance with business operator regulations ▲Compliance with livestock traceability system ▲Violations such as mislabeling Korean beef.
Nowon-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that it will operate a ‘Holiday Pet Dog Care Shelter’ from February 9 to February 11 during the Lunar New Year holiday period.
The Holiday Pet Dog Care Shelter is a representative animal welfare service provided by the district to reduce the burden on pet owners planning to return to their hometowns. It has been operated since Chuseok 2018 to prevent the increase of abandoned dogs during holiday seasons, marking its seventh year this year.
This Lunar New Year pet dog care shelter is being held following a satisfaction survey conducted among dog owners who used the facility during last Chuseok, where all respondents expressed their intention to use the service again. It will be set up in the large auditorium on the second floor of the district office, as in previous years.
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