Tied to the Gyeongchun Line Gongreung Forest Path Coffee Festival, June 13–14 — 42 booths featuring youth and general sellers to energize local commerce
[The Herald Business = Senior Reporter Park Jong-il] Nowon-gu in Seoul (district mayor Oh Seung-rok) will hold a "Youth Market" in conjunction with the Gyeongchun Line Gongreung Forest Path Coffee Festival, as the district moves to support young entrepreneurs and revitalize its local commercial district.
The Youth Market is a participatory market designed to support young people's creative work and early-stage startups while offering residents diverse cultural experiences and emotionally engaging street content. Last year, the market ran four times, drawing 199 teams of sellers, roughly 12,700 visitors and about 84 million won in sales. Particularly, the edition tied to the coffee festival alone drew more than 7,600 visitors over two days.
This year's first Youth Market will be held June 13–14, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., along the Gyeongchun Line Forest Path near the rear gate of Gongreung-dong Dokkaebi Market. A total of 42 booths will participate — 21 youth sellers and 21 general sellers — offering handcrafted goods and lifestyle items such as keyrings, knitted dolls and moss planters, as well as desserts and other distinctive creations.
A key strength of the market is its deliberate mix of youth and general sellers, arranged so participants can naturally exchange ideas and share operational know-how. Feedback from last year's satisfaction survey was positive, with sellers saying they appreciated being able to study other vendors' products and business approaches firsthand, and that the event provided practical help in promoting their workshops and driving sales.
The district's "Youth Store" program — which gives young people the chance to run a shop free of deposit and rent burdens — and its youth pop-up store "Yuyitneun Japwajum Hagye" will also take part as sellers. Particularly, aspiring entrepreneurs set to take over new Youth Store locations starting in June will join as well, gaining hands-on experience ahead of their official launch.
The Gyeongchun Line Gongreung Forest Path is a pedestrian-oriented cultural street developed along a former railway corridor, lined with specialty cafes, craft studios, dessert shops and local stores that give the area its distinctive character. Now in its fourth year, the Gongreung Forest Path Coffee Festival is one of Nowon-gu's signature events, bringing together coffee producers from more than 20 countries alongside well-known cafes from across South Korea and local neighborhood shops. Visitors can sample coffees from around the world and try their hand at roasting, brewing and latte art.
The district plans to link these local assets — the forest path, the coffee festival and the Youth Market — to extend visitors' time in the area and inject new energy into the local economy.
"I hope everyone comes out and enjoys the unique street culture that Nowon has created by bringing together the Gyeongchun Line Gongreung Forest Path, the coffee festival and the Youth Market," district mayor Oh Seung-rok said. "We will continue to expand youth cultural programming so that young people's creative ambitions and the local commercial district can grow together."
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