Grocery Shopping in Korea (2026): Marts vs Coupang vs Markets, Closure Days, Costco, Prices and a ₩60,000 Korean Pantry

Where you buy groceries in Korea changes the bill by a third. The same tray of eggs is ₩7,000 at a mart, ₩6,000 on Coupang with a membership, ₩5,500 at the market stall — and the mart may be closed the day you go. Below are the six kinds of shop, the closure-day rule, Costco's payment quirk, and the 2026 prices of a week's staples from the agricultural price service, with a basket calculator — and then the twelve jars of a Korean pantry, with five home dishes costed per serving.

The six kinds of shop

Big marts — E-mart, Homeplus, Lotte Mart, plus E-mart Traders and Lotte Mart Maxx as the warehouse formats — are the default: everything under one roof, English on many labels, foreign cards accepted, free parking with purchase, and the evening markdowns (fresh fish, sushi and bakery 30–50% off after 19:00–20:00). Their own brands (No Brand, Homeplus Simplus, Lotte 요리하다, Yorihada) are 20–40% under the national brands. Corporate supermarkets (SSG Food Market, Lotte Super, GS The Fresh, Homeplus Express) are the neighbourhood size of the same thing.

Online has overtaken the marts for packaged goods: Coupang with Rocket Delivery (next morning, free for WOW members at ₩7,890 a month, see the Coupang guide) and Rocket Fresh for chilled food by 7 am; Market Kurly for premium fresh food; the marts' own apps (SSG.com/E-mart Mall, Homeplus, Lotte ON) with same-day delivery slots; and quick-commerce (B마트, B-Mart from Baemin) for a 30-minute basket. Online lowest prices — milk at ₩2,390 a litre, kimchi and the pantry jars in the table below — run well under the shelf.

Traditional markets (시장, sijang — Gwangjang, Mangwon and Namdaemun in Seoul; Gukje and Bujeon in Busan; every town has one) are cheapest for vegetables, fruit, seafood, tofu and prepared side dishes, sold by the pile with haggling limited to a rounding-down. Cash or a Korean card; the government's Onnuri gift certificates (온누리상품권, sold at banks at 5–10% off face value) spend here. Costco (Yangjae, Yangpyeong, Sangbong, Gwangmyeong, Ilsan, Busan, Daegu, Daejeon and more): ₩43,000 Gold Star, ₩86,000 Executive (Costco Korea), Hyundai Card or cash only, unbeatable on imported cheese, butter, beef and the ₩2,000 hot-dog set. Convenience stores (how they work) for the emergency egg; specialist shops — Foreign Food Mart in Itaewon, the halal grocers around the mosque, the Russian and Uzbek shops in Dongdaemun, the Filipino market on Sundays at Hyehwa, High Street Market — for what the marts do not stock.

The closure-day rule

Large marts and corporate supermarkets must close two days a month and cannot deliver on those days either. The 2012 law chose the second and fourth Sunday; since 2024 municipalities have been switching to a weekday — 76 of them by the government's April 2024 count (korea.kr), including Seoul's Seocho-gu and Dongdaemun-gu and Busan, with more since — so the answer is local: the store app or the door sign says which days. Online orders from a closed store are not delivered that day; Coupang and Kurly, which are not marts, deliver every day. Traditional markets and convenience stores never close.

What things cost (2026)

From the agricultural price service KAMIS and the year's news: eggs ₩7,271 per tray of 30 (August; up 12% on the year after avian-flu culls), rice ₩62,673 per 20 kg bag (January; up 18%, the reason the government released stocks), pork belly ₩2,802 per 100 g retail (₩17,877 per 200 g in a restaurant — Korean BBQ prices), hanwoo ribeye ₩15,736 per 100 g, and vegetables that swing with the weather (napa cabbage rose 37% in a month before Chuseok). Milk is ₩2,800–3,400 a litre on the shelf, tofu ₩1,500–3,000 a block, bananas ₩3,000–4,500 a kilo (the cheap fruit), apples and grapes ₩2,000–5,000 each in gift season. The Chuseok holiday basket for four cost ₩302,500 at a traditional market versus ₩397,700 at a mart in September 2026 — the 25% gap that keeps the markets alive.

The staples at a glance:

Item	Price (2026)	Note
Eggs, tray of 30	₩7,271	August; up 12% on the year
Rice, 20 kg bag	₩62,673	January; up 18%
Pork belly, 100 g	₩2,802	Retail
Hanwoo ribeye, 100 g	₩15,736	Retail
Milk, 1 L	₩2,800–3,400	Shelf; ₩2,390 online
Tofu, 300 g block	₩1,500–3,000	Per block
Bananas, 1 kg	₩3,000–4,500	The cheap fruit

A Korean pantry for ₩60,000 and five dishes

Everything that makes food taste Korean comes from a dozen jars, and in Korea those jars are cheap: a full starter pantry is about ₩60,000 online, less than three delivery dinners. Below are the twelve staples with 2026 prices and storage, then five weeknight dishes costed per serving, with a calculator for what a serving of each costs you against the restaurant price.

The twelve staples

#	Item	Korean	Online lowest (Sept 2026)	Keeps
1	Red pepper paste	고추장 (gochujang)	₩5,140–9,340 / 500 g	Fridge after opening; months
2	Soybean paste	된장 (doenjang)	₩2,150–4,200 / 500 g	Fridge after opening; months
3	Brewed soy sauce	양조간장 (샘표, Sempio 501)	₩4,000 / 500 ml · ₩18,000 / 1.7 L	Cupboard; a year
4	Sesame oil	참기름 (chamgireum)	₩4,800–8,610 / 320 ml	Dark cupboard; 6–12 months
5	Red pepper flakes	고춧가루 (gochu-garu)	Korean ₩15,900–16,930 / 500 g; imported ₩6,000–9,000	Freezer; a year
6	Kimchi	포기김치 (pogi-kimchi)	≈ ₩7,825 / kg (3 kg ₩24,720)	Fridge; sours over weeks — stew it
7	Rice	쌀 (ssal)	₩28,000–36,000 / 10 kg	Cool cupboard; months
8	Dried anchovies	국물용 멸치 (gukmul-yong myeolchi)	₩8,000–15,000 / 300 g	Freezer
9	Kelp	다시마 (dasima)	₩3,000–6,000 / 100 g	Cupboard; a year
10	Canned tuna	동원참치 (Dongwon Tuna)	₩2,500–3,500 / 150 g	Cupboard
11	Fish sauce	액젓 (멸치, myeolchi/까나리, kkanari)	₩3,000–6,000 / 500 ml	Fridge; a year
12	Rice vinegar, sugar, salt, garlic, spring onion	—	₩5,000 for the set	—

Prices are the lowest online listings in September 2026 (Danawa); a mart shelf typically runs 10–35% higher (online is 10–25% below the shelf, as in the FAQ; the estimator uses +30%), a market cheaper for the fresh items. Items 1–5 plus rice and kimchi are the working minimum — about ₩45,000–60,000 depending on the gochugaru you choose. Buy the 500 g tubs, not the 1 kg, until you know your consumption; refrigerate the pastes once open, as CJ's own guidance says, and do not worry when gochujang darkens. Keep the surface smooth and use a clean spoon, and a 500 g tub lasts a household 3–6 months.

Five dishes, costed

Kimchi jjigae (김치찌개, 20 min): fry 80 g sliced pork belly in a little oil, add 150 g sour kimchi and a spoon of its juice, a teaspoon each of gochugaru and gochujang, garlic, 400 ml water or anchovy stock; simmer 15 minutes, add half a block of tofu and spring onion. About ₩5,000 a serving with rice — the pork is most of it — against ₩8,769 for the restaurant set. The older the kimchi the better the stew — this is what the last third of the tub is for.

Doenjang jjigae (된장찌개, 20 min): a stock from a few anchovies and a piece of kelp (10 minutes, remove), 1½ tablespoons doenjang stirred in, diced potato, zucchini, onion, a chilli, tofu last. ₩3,000 a serving. Less sharp than kimchi stew and the daily-lunch soup of the country.

Bibimbap (비빔밥, 25 min, or 5 with leftovers): rice, a fried egg, three or four blanched or sautéed vegetables dressed with salt and sesame oil (spinach, bean sprouts, carrot, zucchini — whatever is cheap), a tablespoon of gochujang mixed with a teaspoon of sesame oil and a little sugar. ₩3,500–4,000 against ₩11,615.

Jeyuk bokkeum (제육볶음, 15 min): 150 g thin pork (shoulder or belly) in a marinade of 1 tbsp gochujang, 1 tbsp gochugaru, 1 tbsp soy, 1 tsp sugar, garlic, sesame oil; stir-fry hot with onion and spring onion; eat in lettuce wraps with rice. ₩6,000–6,500 — the home version of barbecue night at a fifth of the price.

Gyeran-bap (계란밥, 5 min): hot rice, a fried or scrambled egg, a teaspoon of sesame oil, a tablespoon of soy, a pat of butter if you like, kimchi on the side. ₩1,200. Korea's student dinner, and better than it sounds.

Two techniques

Anchovy-kelp stock (멸치육수, myeolchi-yuksu): 8–10 gutted dried anchovies and a palm-sized piece of kelp in 1 litre of water, simmer 10 minutes, strain — the base of most soups and the reason home doenjang jjigae tastes like the restaurant's. Make a litre and keep it three days. Yangnyeom (양념), the all-purpose sauce: equal parts gochujang and soy, half as much gochugaru and sugar, garlic, sesame oil — marinade for pork, dressing for noodles, dip for lettuce. If the pantry cost is a concern: everything above except Korean gochugaru is under ₩10,000, and the jars outlast the visa.

Cooking Korean at home has one complication for some readers — the fish sauce in the kimchi, the anchovies in the stock, the beef in the broth; see the guide for vegetarians, vegans, Muslims and people with allergies.

Habits that save money

Buy rice in 10 kg bags online; buy kimchi rather than make it (the good brands are good — prices in the pantry table); shop vegetables at the market or on the mart's evening markdown; use the mart app's coupons (they are real: ₩5,000 off ₩50,000 is standard); learn 1+1 and 2+1; and cook Korean — with the pantry above, home cooking is cheaper than any restaurant, and cheaper still than the delivery apps.