Chilseong General Market

A traditional general market in the Chilseong-dong area of Buk-gu, Daegu, one of the largest in the Daegu region, known for its wholesale trade in dried seafood, fishery products, and fruit and vegeta

Chilseong General Market

Overview

Chilseong General Market (Korean: 칠성종합시장) is a large traditional market formed across the Chilseong-dong area of Buk-gu, Daegu Metropolitan City. It is a commercial district representative enough of Daegu that a Daegu Metro Line 1 station was named "Chilseong Market Station," and it is counted among the largest general traditional markets in the Daegu region, with broad trade in dried seafood, fishery products, fruit and vegetables, miscellaneous goods, and food. It is not a single-building shopping mall but a "block-type market," in which numerous alleys and commercial buildings combine to form one vast commercial district, and it is characterized by each alley being differentiated by the goods it handles.

Main Details

Location and Scale

The market spans the Chilseong-dong 2-ga and Chilseong-dong areas of Buk-gu, Daegu Metropolitan City. Several entrances are connected around Chilseong Market Station on Daegu Metro Line 1, and accessibility is good, with Daegu Station and the Dongseongno downtown commercial district reachable on foot or one stop away. The market is broadly divided into a section handling fruit and vegetables, a section handling dried seafood and fishery products, a section for meat, side dishes, and foodstuffs, a section for miscellaneous goods, clothing, and household items, and an alley of restaurants and snack shops. The number of shops and workers is said to reach into the thousands, and together with adjacent commercial buildings and wholesale logistics facilities, it forms a key axis of distribution in northern Daegu.

Formation and History

The market's origins trace back to around the Korean War. In the 1950s, as refugees and migrants settled in the northern part of Daegu, street stalls and pushcarts gathered spontaneously, and in the 1960s and 1970s, as commercial buildings were erected and merchant organizations were formed, the market took shape. In the 1970s and 1980s it grew into a supply base for everyday goods in northern Daegu and a wholesale hub for fruit, vegetables, and dried seafood, and as nearby wholesalers and intermediary distributors clustered together, it served as one axis of the regional agricultural and fishery products distribution network. From the 1990s onward, it suffered the contraction of its retail function due to large discount stores, corporate supermarkets, and more recently the spread of online retail, and efforts to modernize facilities and improve services have continued in order to overcome this.

Goods Handled and Commercial District

The best known is the dried seafood and fishery products section. Wholesale dealers in dried seafood such as anchovies, hwangtae (dried pollock), laver, and seaweed are clustered here, and wholesale purchasing is known to take place from across the country; fruit and vegetables likewise account for a large share within the Daegu region. In addition, meat, tofu and side dishes, rice cakes, seasonings and spices, dishes and kitchenware, clothing and miscellaneous goods, shoes, and bedding—goods spanning daily life—are divided by alley. Inside and around the market, alleys of Daegu local restaurants and snack shops—gukbap, Pyongyang naengmyeon, kalguksu, jjimgalbi, traditional liquor, and the like—have formed, drawing together customers shopping for groceries and visitors in search of food.

Facilities and Amenities

Through market modernization projects, an arcade (rain cover), a customer support center, public parking, public restrooms, and signage have been improved. The number of shops accepting Onnuri gift certificates and local currencies (such as Daegu Haengbok Pay) has increased, and the adoption of card payments and simple mobile payments has also expanded. With support from the Small Enterprise and Market Service and the Daegu Metropolitan City and Buk-gu offices, logistics and delivery services, joint marketing, and hygiene and safety management programs are in operation. Fire safety and electrical facility maintenance are consistently addressed as major tasks for the aging market.

Transportation and Accessibility

Chilseong Market Station on Daegu Metro Line 1 is directly connected to the center of the market, and several city bus routes pass in front of it. Being close to major downtown hubs such as Daegu Station, Dongseongno, and Seomun Market, it is naturally included in travel routes within Daegu. However, chronic parking shortages, narrow alleys, and congestion on back streets have long been pointed to as problems.

Latest Trends

As of 2024–2025, Chilseong General Market is changing in two directions: the "digital transformation of traditional markets" and the "creation of a stay-oriented commercial district." First, as non-face-to-face sales channels such as online ordering, dawn delivery, and live commerce have expanded, there are more cases of wholesale and retail merchants participating in mobile ordering channels. Second, it is attempting to attract younger generations by nurturing young merchants and creating youth malls and start-up support spaces, and it is seeking to transform into a tourism-oriented market through events such as night markets, cultural performances, and food festivals. Third, projects to improve safety infrastructure, such as replacing aging electrical and fire-fighting equipment and repairing the arcade and parking lot, are being carried out in parallel. Fourth, as local currency and Onnuri gift certificate-linked discounts are combined with delivery agency services, the trend is toward strengthening a community-oriented commercial district strategy that emphasizes "freshness" and "price" in competition with large discount stores and online malls. Meanwhile, the growing share of elderly merchants, the lack of successors, and rising rents and logistics costs remain structural challenges that must still be addressed.