Seoul, South Korea - Recent (CCTV - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Stalls, customers on traditional market
2. Various of fish stall
3. Customers
4. Various of donut maker Im Mi-son at work
5. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Im Mi-son, donut maker:
"The decline has been large. Sales dropped a lot."
6. Various of customers, Im at work
7. Deliveryman putting packages in trolley
8. Deliveryman checking order on phone
9. Im at work
10. Various of customers
11. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Lee Ji-sang, manager of marketing, KT:
"Before traditional markets we did other campaigns, online YouTube marriage ceremonies and streaming university orientation. This is the third campaign we are doing."
12. Various of customers, stall owners
13. Cell phone showing online streaming in progress
14. Various of comedian having live streaming
15. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Lee Ran-sook, stall owner (ending with shot 16):
"I thank the people who developed this app. It helps a lot because we had a moment when everything slowed down. In fact, we were scared too. What if we get infected when customers are coming?"
16. Picture of food
17. Deliveryman putting packages in trolley
18. SOUNDBITE (Korean) Lee Ran-sook, stall owner
"After coronavirus is finished some people will still have various reasons they can't come out to the open market; if those people want to shop with that app we can deliver to them, if we can help each other. It's win win."
19. Customers
20. Im at work

A traditional market in Seoul, South Korea, where small stalls are dependent on foot traffic, has adopted online business amid coronavirus (COVID-19) eipdemic.

Suyu Traditional Market avoided coronavirus lockdowns, and most businesses remained open.

But that has not stopped the pandemic from extracting a heavy economic toll for traders dependent on face to face sales because of customers staying at home.

"The decline has been large. Sales dropped a lot," said Im Mi-son, a donut maker.

Business is now picking up again, at least for stallholders who have signed up to an online delivery system developed to help traders who normally work offline.

Goods are now picked up from stallholders and dropped at people's doors.

The "Come Visit Our Traditional Market" app was a collaboration between a startup and Korean telecoms giant KT, which has been finding creative ways to help soften the blow of social distancing.

"Before traditional markets we did other campaigns, online YouTube marriage ceremonies and streaming university orientation. This is the third campaign we are doing," said Lee Ji-sang, manager of marketing team under KT.

Since the start of the pandemic there has been a boom here in shopping online, which was already very popular here.

Local celebrities, like comedian Kim Young-chul, have been streaming awareness campaigns to get stallholders and the general public signed up.

And the measures seem to be working.

"I thank the people who developed this app. It helps a lot because we had a moment when everything slowed down. In fact, we were scared too. What if we get infected when customers are coming?" said Lee Ran-sook, owner of the side dish stall.

When a vaccine is finally developed and social distancing is eased, the app is likely to remain.

"After coronavirus is finished some people will still have various reasons they can't come out to the open market; if those people want to shop with that app we can deliver to them, if we can help each other. It's win win," said Lee.