Creation of Multicultural Food Street at Myeongil Traditional Market in Gangdong-gu

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangdong-gu (District Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) has revitalized the traditional market, which has been struggling due to changes in commercial districts and the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), by creating a multicultural food street in Myeongil Traditional Market to support the economic activities and settlement of multicultural families.

Some of the youth entrepreneur support stores within the existing Myeongil Traditional Market had remained vacant due to business abandonment and contract termination.

Accordingly, the district held in-depth consultations with the merchants' association regarding the fact that vacancies were acting as factors hindering the market's revitalization atmosphere.

Subsequently, the 'Myeongil Traditional Market Multicultural Street' project was launched, allowing multicultural families with small capital to participate, create jobs, and establish a distinctive market environment.

Earlier, since June, Gangdong-gu Healthy Family and Multicultural Family Support Center and the Myeongil Traditional Market Merchants' Association held several meetings and on-site inspections, deciding to pilot three multicultural restaurants, which officially opened in September this year.

The multicultural street features restaurants operated directly by immigrants from the Philippines, Vietnam, and China residing in Gangdong-gu. They sell representative foods from each country such as Bun Cha, Banh Mi, Lutong Bahay (Filipino simple home-cooked meals), and lamb skewers, receiving great responses from local residents.

Lee Soon-yi, president of the Myeongil Traditional Market Merchants' Association, said, “Hearing the rumor that there are multicultural foods in the traditional market, many nearby residents have been visiting, bringing vitality to the market,” conveying the positive atmosphere of the market.

A Gangdong-gu official stated, “We will strengthen promotion of the Myeongil Traditional Market multicultural restaurants in the future to catch two rabbits: the settlement of multicultural families and the revitalization of the traditional market,” adding, “We also plan to actively consider expanding the multicultural street depending on operational trends.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.