Minister Han Seong-suk of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups visited Yeongcheon Market at Dongnimmun in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, on the 1st to check the supply and price trends of Chuseok holiday essentials and held a tea meeting with merchants. Formed in the 1960s, Dongnimmun Yeongcheon Market started as a rice cake wholesale market and is a traditional market with a 60-year history.
At the tea meeting, merchants shared on-site opinions about consumption-boosting programs such as the government's people's livelihood recovery consumption coupons, win-win payback, and Onnuri gift certificate refund events. The merchants said, "Yeongcheon Market has many stores that are famous on social media and among foreign tourists," and added, "Please show interest so it can grow into a tourism and culture landmark representing Korea."
The Minister said, "Traditional markets allow people to buy holiday essentials such as soup meat cuts, rice cakes, and fruit at more reasonable prices than big-box stores, and they play a solid role in easing the burden of holiday shopping baskets," and added, "As the government's various consumption-boosting measures, including people's livelihood recovery consumption coupons and win-win payback, are being carried out alongside Chuseok, we will do our utmost to ensure they are linked to a recovery in the real economy."
According to the Small Enterprise and Market Service's price comparison survey of 27 Chuseok ritual items conducted from Sept. 8 to 15, the expense to prepare a four-person Chuseok ritual table was 298,766 won at traditional markets and 373,164 won at big-box stores, making traditional markets 74,398 won (about 19.9%) cheaper. Of the 27 items surveyed, 20 were cheaper at traditional markets. In particular, bracken (62.9%), peeled bellflower root (62.1%), pollock fillet (43.7%), jujubes (41.0%), songpyeon (32.3%), and dried persimmons (29.6%) showed large price gaps.
Meanwhile, the Minister visited young merchant shops and various stores in the market that day, personally buying hangwa, gangjeong, and songpyeon to encourage the merchants.