Gukje Market is a symbol of Busan which once was the nation’s largest commercial city. Gukje Market is famous as a center of the distribution industry, so the market is the first thing that people think about when they think of Busan. With national liberation achieved in 1945, Gukje Market began to take shape around Sinchang-dong. When the nation regained its independence, Japanese people began to make money by selling things under license before returning to their country. A variety of goods poured into the Bupyeongdong Public Market, the nation’s biggest market at that time, turning the site of the present Gukje Market, which was a wide empty space in those days, into a marketplace. In this way, Gukje Market was naturally created as a standing market. Gukje Market is also called `Dotdaegi Market’ or `Doddegi Market,’ because it was large and people could find all kinds of goods, including foreign ones. The market was so named because people collected all things in a lump and bargained about prices. In 1948, a market of 12 one-story wood buildings was recreated as `Jayu (liberty) Market.’ The name sought to reflect the mood of the time when there were strong feelings of nationalism and democracy after National Liberation Day and the market got its current name, `Gukje Market,’ in May of 1950. As refugees began to do business after the Korean War began in 1950, a market was formed. When American soldiers began to stay in Korea, all kinds of goods were imported illegally along with military supplies through Busan Port. Those illegally imported goods were supplied to the nation’s large markets through Doddegi Market. Military supplies for U.N. soldiers, as well as smuggled foreign products, were commonly traded at Gukje Market. Foreign clothes, accessories and cosmetic products made up the bulk of the goods sold at the market. Riding a boom of foreign products, many fake goods were traded. The market was registered as `Corporation Gukje Market’ in January 1969. Now 1,489 stores belonging to about 580 companies are doing business and the number of employees is about 1,200-1,300. Gukje Market looks like Namdaemun Market in Seoul but unlike other traditional markets. Stores selling foods, farm, sea and stock farm products, and industrial goods make up a complex labyrinth. The first zone sells bags, stationery goods and artifacts; the second zone sells kitchen utensils, ironware and eyeglasses; the third zone sells bed clothes and Western-style apparel and accessories; the fourth zone sells linen and cotton, silk goods, foreign satin and kitchen utensils; and the fifth and sixth zones sell home appliances and mechanical tools. Gukje Market is a wholesale and retail sale market with a focus on linen and cotton, stationery goods, kitchen utensils, mechanical tools, clothes and electric and electronic goods. The market suffered serious damage from two fires in 1953 and another big one in April of 1992. Like usual traditional markets, Gukje Market is gradually getting old and decaying and has many old buildings and the parking facilities are inadequate. The market is competing with shopping centers in Gwangbok-dong, including nearby large department stores. It still is a symbol of Busan markets and is one of the attractions visited by many people. Gukje Market features in a popular song named `Be Strong, Geum-sun,’ which alludes to the market as a place where many sorrowful refugees sought refuge . The market once was the nation’s largest market in terms of business volume.