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Busan Metropolitan City Visits Yongho Alley Market and Yongho Market to Assess Vitality of Traditional Markets

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□ Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it will visit Yongho Alley Market and Yongho Market in Nam-gu today (the 26th) at 13:30 to review market operations, listen to merchants’ difficulties, and directly inspect project sites aimed at revitalizing traditional markets.

○ This visit was arranged to communicate with merchants by visiting traditional markets in person, inspect on-site conditions at project sites for traditional market revitalization, and verify on the ground any necessary improvements and the feasibility of implementation for future project execution.

□ Mayor Park will first hold a meeting with the merchants’ association and merchant representatives. He will listen to various suggestions, including difficulties encountered during market operations.

○ Based on feedback collected on-site that day, Busan Metropolitan City plans to continue refining its policies and support measures for revitalizing traditional markets. It will also share opinions on overall market operations through ongoing communication with merchants and further strengthen the foundation for collaboration with them.

□ The Mayor will then move along key routes inside the markets to review on-site: ▲ The detailed progress of sub-projects at sites selected for the “2026 Traditional Market Facility Modernization Project” ▲ Conditions at Yongho Alley Market, which has applied for the Cultural Tourism Market Development Public Contest (Ministry of SMEs and Startups).

○ [Facility Modernization Project Review] At Yongho Alley Market, a road improvement project within the market is scheduled to proceed, while at Yongho Market, waterproof painting work for the parking lot is planned. Both markets have had a strong need for environmental improvements due to aging facilities. Mayor Park will inspect the sites directly to check implementation conditions, safety, and user convenience. Through this facility modernization project, Busan Metropolitan City plans to improve the market environment and gradually expand a foundation for traditional markets that both merchants and visitors can tangibly experience.

○ [On-site Review for Cultural Tourism Market Development] This on-site visit for the Cultural Tourism Market initiative was arranged to assess on the ground the direction for fostering specialized markets that leverage local history, culture, and tourism resources in preparation for an era of five million foreign tourists. Busan Metropolitan City will examine specialized elements of the market, the on-site atmosphere, and sections that can be linked with tourism, and will review the potential for development as a cultural tourism market by combining the market’s distinctive cultural and daily-life resources with tourism demand.

※ Yongho Alley Market applied for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups’ “Cultural Tourism Market Development Public Contest” (November 2025), incorporating elements such as ▲ local foods ▲ cultural and experiential content ▲ linkages with tourism resources.

□ In addition, Mayor Park will visit stores one by one to encourage merchants who have sustained traditional markets despite the economic downturn, communicate directly on-site, and examine market operating conditions.

○ Based on findings confirmed through this visit, Busan Metropolitan City will supplement necessary policies—such as improvements to user convenience—and will continue on-site inspections centered on traditional markets that are closely tied to citizens’ daily lives, so that tangible changes can continue. The City plans to 추진해 나갈 방침이다. (translation continued below for clarity while preserving meaning)

→ The City plans to continue advancing policies to support traditional markets and revitalize the local economy so that citizens can experience meaningful change.

□ Mayor Park Heong-joon is expected to say, “Traditional markets are the roots of the local economy and the space closest to citizens’ lives,” adding, “I will faithfully reflect the voices of merchants heard on-site today in city administration and continue practical support that merchants and citizens can feel through projects such as facility modernization.”