Geumcheon-gu opens 'Green Butcher Shop' to tackle sanitation woes at Doksan-dong cattle market

Sanitation has long been the most pressing challenge at the Doksan-dong cattle market in Geumcheon-gu, with chronic complaints over foul odors and wastewater discharge proving difficult to resolve.

Geumcheon-gu has now officially opened the Doksan-dong Cattle Market Coexistence Center, known as the Green Butcher Shop, after completing a trial operation period.

The facility was built to address the market's sanitation problems and ease a persistent parking shortage in the surrounding area. It targets longstanding issues including odors, blood runoff and wastewater from the cattle market, while also providing parking for local residents and creating shared spaces — including a community room and cafe — to promote coexistence between merchants and residents.

The project cost approximately 42.6 billion won ($31.9 million) in total. The Green Butcher Shop sits at 11 Beoman-ro 19-gil in Doksan-dong, with a total floor area of 7,818 square meters spread across two below-ground floors and six above-ground floors.

The layout assigns each floor a distinct function: the first basement level houses a livestock processing facility, while the second basement level contains mechanical and electrical equipment. The ground floor features a community room and cafe, floors two through five provide an 80-space parking garage, and the top floor accommodates a customer lounge, an education room, a livestock training room and a merchants' association office.

An opening ceremony is being held Friday, with about 100 attendees expected — including the district mayor, National Assembly lawmakers, the district council chair, city and district council members, the Geumcheon-gu Merchants' Federation and local residents. Guests will tour the facility after the ceremony to inspect operations and review how each space is being used.

From 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., the cattle market merchants' association will host a market festival called "Hot Dok-u Festa." A social media promotion event and a food zone open at 4 p.m., followed by a guest performance from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. A singing contest open to both residents and merchants will run from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Community programs for local residents will also be held in the community room and other spaces. In November, the facility will partner with the Geumcheon 50-Plus Center to offer expert lectures covering four areas essential to later life — health, leisure, relationships and personal finance — along with a Green Butcher Shop wellness academy series.

"After eight years of painstaking effort, we have improved the sanitation environment at the cattle market, eased the parking shortage and created a shared space where merchants and residents can come together," Geumcheon-gu District Mayor Choi Ki-chan said. "Going forward, we will develop the Green Butcher Shop into a community hub in Doksan-dong where merchants and residents can coexist and connect."