CreatripTeam

GYEONGJU — Ahead of the APEC summit, the large sign marking Gyeongju’s historic haejangguk (hangover soup) street was taken down as part of city center clean-up efforts. Once home to about 20 haejangguk restaurants, the area gradually lost most eateries after the city and the Cultural Heritage Administration began restoring the nearby Choksaem burial mounds (쪽샘지구) in 2007 and demolished surrounding buildings. Only one restaurant remains; its owner, in his 70s, says he will close if the landlord accepts compensation from the city. The neighborhood was known for a local specialty, memil-muk haejangguk (buckwheat jelly in haejangguk), made with broth from pollock or anchovy, memil-muk (buckwheat jelly), bean sprouts, aged kimchi, and mozaban (a type of seaweed) for a refreshing flavor. The street’s decline follows heritage-area redevelopment and recent APEC-related tidy-up measures that removed the last large sign that once promoted the haejangguk street to tourists and locals.