Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Box-office hit rubs off on Gukje Market
Shoppers look around stalls in Gukje Market in the southern port city of Busan. / Yonhap
By Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
The popularity of the film “Ode to my Father” has prompted a renaissance at Busan’s Gukje Market, where part of the movie was shot.
Viewers of the film have flocked to the market in the southern port city since the release of the film on Dec. 17.
The influx prompted the Busan Tourism Organization to launch a tour focused on sites that appear in the movie.
The film ― which has been seen by more than 8 million people since its release ― revolves around Deok-soo, played by Hwang Jung-min, who lived through Korea’s tumultuous period between the 1950s and 1980s. Deok-soo undergoes all sorts of hardships as he works as a coal miner in Germany and a civilian worker during the Vietnam War to support his family that runs a shop in Gukje Market.
The history of the market itself is as interesting as the film.
The beginnings of the market cropped up when Korea was liberated from Japan’s colonial rule in 1945. Three years later, the market was officially named and a single-floor wooden building of 12 units was constructed to house the shops.
As the film depicts, the marketplace was a settling ground for a large number of refugees that crossed the border from the North during the Korean War (1950-1953).
The refugees, who had no ties in the city, built their livelihoods as merchants at the market. They got a hold of relief goods, military equipment and consumer goods and started selling them. The market began to play a central role as a retail outlet in the city along with the commercial districts of Gwangbok-dong and Nampo-dong.
Among the settlers in Busan, there were also literati from Seoul who had come seeking refuge. As they sought their livelihood in the market, it grew not only as a place of commerce but also as a melting pot for various rungs of society, and became the center of information and change.
The market took the form of a wholesale and retail market as the war ended and the economy started taking shape.
In 1968, nine units were renovated into concrete buildings, some 7,200 square meters of land were granted and 1,489 individual shops were registered. A year later, a cooperative was established, and it received a permit from the government.
Tourists can look around the market that sells everything from fashion items to household products to food. The highlight, however, is sitting at the outdoor stalls and trying the assortment of snacks that are offered. Included in the wide variety are tteok-bokki (rice cakes in hot sauce), patjuk (red-bean soup) and hotteok (pancake stuffed with brown sugar).