Gangwon civil servants launch shopping spree to support Chuseok markets

Ahead of Chuseok, civil servants from Gangwon Province and its 18 cities and counties are launching a large-scale campaign to buy up goods at traditional markets. The effort is commonly known by the internet slang term "donjjul," which loosely means rewarding merchants by shopping generously.

To inject life into traditional markets weakened by rising prices ahead of the holiday, the province will hold a Chuseok shopping event for 10 days from Thursday to Sept. 23. The event will involve every provincial government department, its funded and invested institutions, local public enterprises, and city and county employees, who will visit traditional markets across the province.

While shopping, civil servants and public institution employees will also buy items needed for their own holiday ancestral rites. They will also share lunch at traditional markets, small business storefronts, and good-price stores, with each person paying individually.

They will also check price trends for holiday necessities in each city and county to identify what administrative support may be needed.

Since September 2025, the province has been running a consumption-recovery campaign aimed at reviving sales at small merchants in traditional markets and back-alley commercial areas and boosting the regional economy. It has turned market shopping — once concentrated around the holidays — into a regular monthly event, and every Wednesday, officials eat at back-alley restaurants to encourage everyday spending.

To ease congestion for residents visiting traditional markets ahead of Chuseok, Gangwon Province will temporarily expand roadside parking zones near the markets from 8 to 44 sections. The expansion will run for 17 days, from Friday to Sept. 27.

"Traditional markets are precious places where you can feel a community's warmth and vitality up close," said Kim Mun-gi, director general of Gangwon Province's Economic Affairs Bureau. "I hope residents will visit traditional markets with their families this abundant Chuseok season, enjoy the warm atmosphere of the holiday, and help support the local economy by buying regional agricultural and fishery specialty products along with a variety of foods."