Gender, ageing and agency: Street entrepreneurs and dressmakers in a Korean marketplace

The generation of workers who contributed to the rapid economic development of South Korea since the 1960s have been marginalised socially and economically as they age. In particular, ageing and aged women engaged in marginalised economic activities have been excluded from current national and urban development policies. This article explores the lives of female street entrepreneurs and dressmakers of the Tongdaemun Shijang market area in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea. The article argues that the urban economy needs to be understood as diverse and open, and ageing and aged women are economically and socially active agents within it.