Seoul Peace Market

Seoul Peace Market (Korean: 서울평화시장; RR: Seoul pyeonghwa sijang) was an area in Cheonggyecheon area in Seoul, South Korea.^[1]

In 1960s and 1970s it was known as a site of numerous sweatshops, criticized for poor working conditions.^[2] On November 13, 1970, Jeon Tae-il, a Korean worker and workers' rights activist, committed suicide by burning himself to death at that location in protest of the poor working conditions in then South Korean factories.^[3][4]

By early 1990s most industry has relocated from that area,^[5] and it became well known as a quality marketplace, particularly for garments, attracting not just locals but even international tourists.^[1]

References

1. Chun Soonok (29 September 2017). They Are Not Machines: Korean Women Workers and their Fight for Democratic Trade Unionism in the 1970s. Taylor & Francis. pp. 60–65. ISBN 978-1-351-87953-8.
2. Peterson, Mark (2009). Brief History: Brief History of Korea. Infobase Publishing. p. 224. ISBN 978-1-4381-2738-5.
3. Dennis McNamara (2 September 2003). Market and Society in Korea: Interest, Institution and the Textile Industry. Routledge. p. 67. ISBN 978-1-134-47834-7.
4. Bruce Cumings (17 September 2005). Korea's Place in the Sun: A Modern History (Updated Edition). W. W. Norton. p. 375. ISBN 978-0-393-34753-1.
5. "[2010 연중기획] 희미해진 평화시장의 '전태일 기억'". Weekly Kyunghyang (in Korean). 2010-01-06. Retrieved 2021-03-21.