If you wander towards the northern side of Seoul you’ll come across two monstrously popular areas: Dongdaemun and Namdaemun.

In Hanja (Chinese-Korean), Dongdaemun translates literally to the “East Gate” and Namdaemun to the “South Gate.”

Dongdaemun and Namdaemun are both known for their bustling marketplaces. Dongdaemun differentiates itself by being open 24 hours a day as well as having its own “night market” which caters to those that would rather be shopping than sleeping. Fans of the popular store Forever 21 may be interested to know that the company was inspired by the “fast-fashion” design trends that originated in Dongdaemun.

Namdaemun is the largest traditional Korean market in Korea. From traditional gifts, to clothes, to electronics, to cameras & lenses, everything you want from historical korean pieces to present day tech might just be in Namdaemun.

Korvia.com Contributing Photographer Ryan Ellis shares his photos of the two bustling marketplaces.

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Dongdaemun Namdaemun Astronauts

These astronauts gaze over the crowds of Namdaemun. I’m not sure what the point of them is, but as someone from Houston (“Space City!”), they sure do remind me of home.  

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Dongdaemun Namdaemun Tourist Shirts Bird Watching

A bird looks for some great deals while a man looks for customers.

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Dongdaemun Namdaemun Game

Two men play a game to relax after a hard days work.

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Dongdaemun Namdaemun Mystery Meat

I wasn’t sure what kind of meat this was, but it definitely looked tasty. Fresh meat like this can be found all over the place in these markets.

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Dongdaemun Namdaemun Napping Ajumma

An ajumma closes her eyes for a couple minutes while there’s a lull in the crowd.

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Dongdaemun Namdaemun Shoe Store

Mountains of inexpensive shoes can easily be found in these traditional markets.

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Dongdaemun Namdaemun Souvenirs

These tiny dolls are just one example of the type of souvenirs you can find.

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Dongdaemun Namdaemun Souvenirs 2

The gate on this paperweight is called “Namdaemun”, which is where the market got it’s name from (they’re right next to each other).

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Dongdaemun Namdaemun Tourist Shirts

I’ve found shirts with hangul on them to be surprisingly rare in Korea, but they can easily be found in markets like these (the prices are fantastic too!).

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For more information about visiting these great marketplaces, please head over to the Dongdaemun & Namedaemun Official Korean Tourism Organization pages.