Seoul is opening its "Moonlight Night Market" program in earnest, letting diners enjoy food from the city's alley restaurants outdoors on cool autumn evenings. Distinctive alley commercial districts selected for the program — including the Konkuk University Food Street, Serosu-gil and the Sadang restaurant alley — are expected to become new nighttime destinations combining food with illuminated streetscapes. The city will provide up to 2 billion won ($1.4 million) per commercial district and extend special credit guarantees to alley merchants to boost nighttime commerce.
The Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation said on the 5th that it will supply a total of 68.75 billion won ($48 million) in special guarantees, in partnership with Hana Bank, Naver Pay and NAVER (035420), for projects including the Moonlight Night Market. Hana Bank will contribute 5 billion won and Naver Pay and NAVER will contribute 500 million won, for a combined 5.5 billion won that the foundation will use as the funding base for the new guarantee program.
Businesses in districts selected for the Moonlight Night Market will receive preferential guarantee limits. Also eligible for preferential treatment are entrepreneurs aged 39 or younger at companies founded within the past seven years, as well as merchants who install Naver Pay Connect payment terminals. Other small businesses and small merchants based in Seoul can use the guarantees under standard limits.
The Moonlight Night Market aims to extend the operating hours of alley commercial districts, which are concentrated in daytime, into the night to increase how long residents and tourists stay and spend. The plan is to develop the "night market" culture of eating outdoors at alley restaurants after work into district-specific food and attractions, linking it to higher sales for small merchants and more active alley economies.
Six distinctive districts were recently selected for the program. Sinsa Serosu-gil will be developed as a district for both shopping and dining, linked with the adjacent Garosu-gil. The Sadang Orak Moonlight Night Market will combine food with local culture by tying together Gwanaksan, the chive-and-pork-belly alley and the artists' village. The Konkuk University Food Street will add content reflecting young adults' tastes to the nighttime dining culture of the university area.
The Changdong Station shopping district will be turned into a culture-oriented commercial district combining K-pop performances with local food, in connection with Seoul Arena. The Sadang 1-dong restaurant alley will draw on foot traffic at Sadang Station and its dense cluster of restaurants and bars, while the Sangbong restaurant alley will build up nighttime commerce on the basis of its existing food businesses and established cooperation between residents and merchants.
Each selected district will receive up to 2 billion won through 2028. The funding will improve safety facilities such as walkways, streetlights and CCTV cameras, as well as convenience and sanitation facilities including restrooms and waste disposal sites. It will also create nighttime streetscapes that highlight each alley's appeal by replacing aging signs and upgrading lighting. Nighttime content linking local food with nearby cultural and tourism resources will be developed as well. The city also plans to issue "Moonlight Love Gift Certificates" tied to the Seoul Love Gift Certificate program so that visitor spending flows into alley merchants' sales.
Support will also be provided to reduce inconvenience for residents, such as noise and waste, that could increase as nighttime activity grows. The city will expand infrastructure including waste disposal facilities and restrooms and draw up operating and management plans suited to each district's conditions, creating nighttime commercial areas that visitors can enjoy comfortably while coexisting with local residents.
