2016 WeAJa flea market to be held on Sunday

The JoongAng Ilbo’s 12th annual WeAJa flea market returns this Sunday in Seoul, Busan, Daejeon and Daegu.

At the event, which draws more than three million people each year, attendees can trade goods, bid for items donated by celebrities and enjoy entertainment.

Donors this year include pro-golfer Park In-bee, who won gold in the 2016 Summer Olympics; former President Lee Myung-bak; National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun; GS Caltex Chairman Hur Dong-soo; SK Telecom CEO Jang Dong-hyun; as well as male actors Park Seo-jun and Bae Yong-joon, among others.

The country’s largest day-long flea market has raised over 1.3 billion won (about $1 million) in previous years, with all proceeds going to help underprivileged children.

In Seoul, the flea market will be held in Gwanghwamun Sqaure, central Seoul, from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

The event in other cities will run 30 minutes longer, until 4 p.m., at Borame Park in Daejeon; at the plaza in front of Dasom Yard in Busan Citizens Park; and at the National Debt Redemption Movement in Daegu.

Admission is free.

The Anti-Corruption & Civil Rights Commission, which drafted the antigraft act, confirmed in a statement that running the WeAJa bazaar is legal and neither donors nor buyers will be punished because the event serves the public interest.

Golfer Park In-bee, who won gold in the latest Olympics and is currently ranked 7th on the Rolex Rankings, donated her Odyssey White Hot RX 1 Putter, which she is said to have personally used.

Actor Bae Yong-joon submitted a bottle of Onda d‘Oro, cabernet sauvignon produced by Dana Estates in Napa Valley, California.

The influential Buddhist monk Hyemin donated a Buddhist textbook and rosary.

Former president Lee Myung-bak donated a personally calligraphed chengyu, or four-character Chinese idiom, which he proclaimed on New Year’s Day in 2009 and wrote recently. The meaning of the idiom is: “to save the nation and lead it aright.”

For more information, visit weaja.joins.com, email fleamarket@bstore.org or call 02-2115-7331 for the Seoul flea market; 051-867-8701 for Busan; 042-486-9008 for Daejeon; or 053-792-1403 for Daegu.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]