[Report] Public Sentiment Emerges Amid the Chuseok Rush at Yangdong Market

Chuseok Market Bustling with Kimchi, Namul, and Jeon
Citizens Bring Onnuri Gift Certificates: "We Love the Discounts"
Mayor Kang Kijung Visits, Greeting Merchants with a Smile
"Life Is Still Tough... Now It's Time to Deliver"

Gwangju Yangdong Market bustling with customers ahead of Chuseok on the 2nd. Photo by Song Bohyun

"We can't keep up with the demand!"

On the morning of October 2, in front of a side dish shop at Yangdong Market in Seo-gu, Gwangju, a merchant's voice rang out loudly. Kimchi mixed with red seasoning, freshly prepared namul, pickles, and braised dishes were piled high in stainless steel bowls. As citizens lined up with their shopping baskets, the merchant, wearing sanitary gloves, busily packed side dishes.

The traditional market was filled with energy just four days before Chuseok. Housewives nodded as they compared the prices of vegetables one by one, while elderly customers pressed their fingers into ritual fish to check their freshness and bargained over the price. The narrow alleyways bustled with customers looking for head meat and pig's feet. As shopping baskets and carts bumped into each other, people exchanged words of caution, saying, "Be careful."

A side dish store bustling with busy hands packing various side dishes. Photo by Song Bohyun

At the seafood stalls, skate, hairtail, and butterfish were neatly arranged on ice. The merchants called out to customers, saying, "You need to get fish for the Chuseok table today." The shop frying jeon was filled with the smell of oil. As rounds of donggeurangttaeng, pollock jeon, and perilla leaf jeon were stacked up, customers grabbed bags, and the merchant standing in front of the hot oil kept flipping the jeon with a spatula.

Kim Eun-kyung, 39, who received namul in a black bag, handed over an Onnuri gift certificate. Kim said, "I always bring gift certificates when I come to the market. I can use them like cash, and the discounts help with shopping." As she mentioned, signs reading "Participating Store for Onnuri Gift Certificate Cashback Event" were posted throughout the market. Some merchants collected the gift certificates separately and recorded them meticulously in their ledgers.

Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung is visiting Yangdong Market on the 2nd, shaking hands with merchants and asking about their well-being. Photo by Song Bohyun

On one busy side of the market, Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung made an appearance. He shook hands with each merchant, asking, "How is business these days?" He also smiled and greeted the elderly who were sitting around the stalls. Some citizens took out their smartphones to take pictures, and among those browsing the market, people remarked, "Even the mayor is here."

A man in his 60s, leaving the market alley, shook his head, saying, "How can we avoid talking politics at the dinner table?" He added, "Life is still tough. I wonder if voting was worth it." A merchant in his 50s, overhearing this, said, "Now that the Lee Jaemyung administration has taken office, they need to show us something. Only then can we trust and wait."