Efforts to Revitalize Gumi Original Downtown ... Traditional Markets Also Stirred Up

Ramen Festival Draws Crowds to Traditional Market, Market Merchants Thank City

"Real Hotteok Shop Caught Fire," Merchants Smile Amid Flood of Visitors

As a result of the continuous revitalization projects in the old downtown area of Gumi, Gumi Saemaeul Central Market is regaining its former vitality.

Gumi City has reorganized the underground parking lot at the rear plaza of Gumi Station to ensure smooth access for citizens to the old downtown area, and is promoting the establishment of Ground 9, a complex cultural hub space on the first floor of Gumi Station, to provide a living space for young people.

In addition, various cultural activities such as busking performances through Munhwaro, and creating creative spaces for young artists at Geumo Market are being prepared to attract the interest of young people.

The city is making efforts to revitalize the traditional market by implementing projects such as creating parking lots and rain shelters for customers visiting Gumi Saemaeul Central Market located in the old downtown area, improving the market floor and signboards for image enhancement, installing CCTV for fire prevention and safety, and supporting manager wages for merchant education and market operation.

One of these revitalization measures, the ‘Gumi Ramen Festival,’ showed outstanding results. Despite concerns about traffic congestion, the event boldly moved to the heart of the city to revitalize the old downtown area, attracting a crowd of 100,000 people, creating a sea of people.

The large number of visitors to the ramen festival also became a source of vitality for Gumi Saemaeul Central Market. Visitors who enjoyed the festival naturally visited the nearby Saemaeul Central Market, Munhwaro, and Geumridan-gil. Certification photos of market visits were continuously posted on mom cafes, and market reviews followed on SNS and blogs.

In this way, many young people visited the traditional market during the festival period, providing a rare opportunity to restore the old market’s reputation and offering young people the somewhat unfamiliar charm of the traditional market.

One market merchant said, “It seems there are more visitors than during the last holiday,” adding, “I haven’t seen such a crowd in 30 years, and I’m sorry we couldn’t serve more customers due to running out of ingredients.”

Lee Su-wook, president of the Gumi Saemaeul Central Market Merchants Association, along with the market merchant chairpersons, visited Gumi City on the 24th to express their gratitude for the city’s continuous interest and affection for revitalizing the old downtown and traditional markets.

The president group of market merchants at Gumi Saemaeul Central Market visited Gumi City on the 24th and had a meeting with Mayor Kim Jang-ho.

Mayor Kim Jang-ho said, “To revitalize the old downtown and traditional markets, we will do our best to prepare abundant food, sights, and entertainment at the night market to be held next year at Saemaeul Central Market so that many tourists can visit.”

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