Traditional herbal medicine shops in Seoul’s Jegi-dong Yangnyeongsi market were places to sell remedies and also to sort and store medicinal materials. The Seoul Yangnyeongsi Korean Medicine Museum displays medicine drawers, tools and about 380 herbal materials.
The tiny drawers
A wall of small labeled drawers let shop workers separate many materials and retrieve them quickly. The museum recreates a traditional shop in its ‘Yakjeon Han-yakbang’ exhibit, alongside historical medical tools.
A market shaped in the 1960s
VisitKorea says the modern Seoul Yangnyeongsi took shape around Jegi-dong in the mid-to-late 1960s, as medicinal materials from across the country moved through the Cheongnyangni transport hub. Together, the market and museum show the trade’s urban history.
Culture, not treatment
This story does not recommend specific herbs for any condition or personal use. It focuses on the material culture of Korean medicine: drawers, packets, tools, distribution routes and the market streets.
