[Terry's Tale] Cheonan's Traditional Korean Market Area

The city of Cheonan is like many cities around the world, a mix of old and new. Old pretty much does not date back more than sixty years because of the devastation caused by the Korean War (1950-1953). After the war ended Korea was left bereft and impoverished. The US provided no real economic assistance as was done for post World War II Europe with the “Marshall Plan”. Further, Korea has no natural resources to fall back upon for generating capital. Therefore, post Korean War South Korea rebuilt at rather slow rate that didn’t see significant increase until the economic programs that were put in place in the 1960’s. Today’s South Korea is very much a first world nation though still very “Korean” in nature.

Like many cities in Korea, Cheonan’s rise after the Korean War started with the slow rebuilding of the local economy which was primarily agricultural. People of greater means would gather in “market” areas of the city to vend whatever they could and peple of lesser means would sell along the roadsides. As the city began to build and modernize the roadway sizes remained designed primarily for foot and motor scooter traffic and thus were quite narrow.

One of the shop-lined narrow streets of Cheonan

Same street but looking in the opposite direction

After hours in the Traditional Korean Market area

Above and Below - In the middle of Cheonan

The last three photos show something of the fringe

areas of the Korean Traditional Market area

The last three decades have seen an enormous rise in automobile traffic and the consequences on Cheonan are reflected in the street dimensions. The older parts of the city have streets designed for pedestrian and motor scooter traffic and thus are very narrow, a situation that for different reasons is quite common in many cities around the world – both in the developed as well as the developing countries.

Also, as in many places, general development appears to be, to a large degree, unplanned, though the majority of the obvious commercial development appears to be retail oriented. Yet, Cheonan still has an area containing a traditional market. It is no longer near the city center as that has shifted over time. In fact, the primary area now considered to be the prime shopping area is studded with newer buildings that would not look out of place in any major city in the world - or even any minor city in the countries considered to be in the economic first world. You definitely do not have to come to Korea to view such buildings with their high-priced, name-brand type retail shops.

The traditional market is not small as it encompasses a several block area in size, part of which is covered. Many local farmers bring their fresh produce there, and there is meat and fish in abundance. Interes-tingly enough there is a real grocery store located in the midst of the covered area and convenience stores abound.

The vast majority of shops are either food or clothes oriented, though there are stores that offer many other types of things, curios and such. I have found in this area to also contain such diverse things as lumber sales, hardware stores, stores vending only pet foods, and frame shops to name a few. As might be expected, such stores are not large in number but do serve necessary functions. From what I have seen the vast majority of peoples daily needs in good can be met by the shops in this area. To some degree it reminds me of a combination of a 'farmers market', a 'flea' market, and specialty shops area that you can find in the US.

AFTER HOURS AT THE KOREAN TRADITIONAL MARKET AREA

In the outlying areas some of the shops show no lights

BELOW: Inside the covered area most of the shops are closed for the evening yet a few remain open in an effort to catch any available business that wanders by