What Is Ojang? How to Read Korea's Five-Day Market Dates

If you've read anything about Korea's traditional markets, you've probably seen a line like "open on days ending in 2 and 7" and wondered what it actually means. It isn't a weekday. It's a five-day cycle tied to the calendar date, and once you know the rule it takes about five seconds to decode any market's schedule in the country.

The rule: it's about the last digit of the date

Korea's traditional five-day markets — called ojang (오일장) — open every five days, based on the last digit of the day of the month. A market described as a "2 and 7" market opens on the 2nd, 7th, 12th, 17th, 22nd, and 27th of every month. A "5 and 10" market opens on the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, and 30th. There are five possible combinations in total: 1 & 6, 2 & 7, 3 & 8, 4 & 9, and 5 & 10. It has nothing to do with the day of the week, so a market day can fall on a Tuesday one week and a Sunday the next.

Reference table

Nearby markets deliberately avoid sharing a schedule. Historically, itinerant traders (bobusang) walked a five-village circuit, spending one day in each village before the cycle repeated — so neighboring towns picked different end-digits, and merchants and buyers weren't split between two markets on the same day. That's why two markets a short drive apart often have market days one day apart, which makes it easy to combine two into a single trip.

Real examples from official English listings

Here's what that looks like in practice, quoting the official day descriptions exactly as published by the Korea Tourism Organization:

• Eonyang Alps Market Town (Ulsan) — "On the 2nd, 7th, 12th, 17th, 22nd, and 27th of each month"
• Guryongpo Fifth-Day Market (Pohang) — "Every 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th, 23rd, 28th"
• Hallim Traditional 5-Day Market (Jeju) — opens on dates ending in 4 and 9
• Yongmun Millennium Market (Gyeonggi) — "Days ending in 5 and 10," right in front of Yongmun Station

You can browse all of these — plus Korea's larger, permanent traditional markets — on Chukjemoa's Markets page, where each five-day market shows a countdown to its next open day.

What time to go

Markets change character through the day. Vendors set up between 7 and 9am, and that's when perishables like vegetables, wild greens, and seafood are freshest. Late morning to noon is the busiest and fullest stretch. By mid-afternoon, popular items are often already gone — but vendors sometimes drop prices sharply in the last hour or two before closing, so if you're bargain-hunting rather than shopping for something specific, a late-afternoon visit can work in your favor.

Before you go

• Bring cash. Larger stalls increasingly take cards, but small vendors are still mostly cash-only.
• Public holidays can cancel a market day. Markets often don't open on Lunar New Year or Chuseok itself, and severe weather can cancel a market day too — when in doubt, a quick call to the local market office confirms it.
• Bring a foldable bag or cart if you're planning to buy produce — most stalls don't hand out bags automatically.

Planning to combine a market visit with a festival on the same trip? Use Festival Finder to see what's happening in the same region on your dates.