Abstract

Conventional markets in Korea have played a pivotal role in the vitalization of local communities and economies along with the distribution of products. Although many people believe the markets to be disorderly, they are lively and provide local people with things to enjoy, watch and buy. However, superstores have undergone a mushrooming proliferation since Korea opened its gates to multinational superstores in 1996. This phenomenon has caused a crisis for Korea's conventional markets. They have lost their competitiveness because of this environmental change, inefficient management, and their outmoded facilities. Government efforts to revitalize the markets have centered on redevelopment of the facilities, a perspective that has caused not only the fall of the old business districts but also the decline of the distribution function. Under these conditions, the traditional market has re-entered into competition. The Korean government enacted a special law to revitalize the conventional markets and has been implementing many policies to support them since 2003. In 2009, the government amended the law and adopted the Business Improvement District System. The government also changed the official term from 'old markets' to 'Conventional markets'. Despite this legal amendment, though, we still need to re-establish the concept of the Conventional market. Historically, markets grew up spontaneously to dispose of surplus products. Some manmade markets were established through urban planning or as public facilities. Their businesses transactions have always been based on mutual trust between consumers and trades people, the traditional way of commercial dealing. Conventional markets can be defined, then, as creatures of societal necessity where transactions for services and products are based on mutual trust. Problematically, unlisted markets are left out of government support. Although unlisted markets have performed almost the same functions as listed markets, they exist only as a statistic as far as the special law is concerned. In some areas, there are more unlisted markets than unlisted ones. Therefore, it is necessary to establish systematic management methods for the unlisted markets. Some unlisted markets received support in the form of facility improvement from local governments' budgets in the early stage of the special law's enforcement. The current government also assists with safety issues involving unlisted markets; however, the current special law provides no legal framework for unlisted markets. Moreover, consumers cannot tell the difference between unlisted markets and listed ones. Finding a solution to this problemrequires new standards and a wider scope of support by which the efficiency of the market improvement support system might be enhanced.