Lawmaker revisits Gupo Market vendor in Busan

[Captured from Han Dong-hoon's Facebook]
[Captured from Han Dong-hoon's Facebook]

Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon (Busan Buk-gu Gap) has reunited with Kim Bok-ak, the street vendor in her 80s who went viral during his campaign after sharing sticky rice with him, this time sitting down together to eat tomatoes.

Han posted four photos on social media over the weekend showing his reunion with Kim at Gupo Market in Busan, according to political sources Tuesday.

In the photos, Kim slices tomatoes and oriental melons to offer Han, who sat on the pavement beside her stall to eat them. Han posted the images without a caption.

Kim is a local resident Han encountered while campaigning at the market during the June 3 Busan Buk-gu Gap by-election, in which he ran as an independent. She is widely credited as one of the biggest contributors to the buzz surrounding his campaign.

Kim first offered Han a tomato on April 28. Then, on May 8 — Parents' Day — when Han returned to her stall to pay his respects, she presented him with sticky rice and kimchi wrapped in a plastic bag. She had made the sticky rice as a gesture of good luck, hoping he would "stick" to a win, and told him, "Call me when you become president someday." Han plopped down on the ground and ate the rice on the spot.

The video of the former prosecutor sitting casually on the pavement spread widely online, prompting many viewers to say they saw him in a new light.

Han later invited Kim to the opening ceremony of his campaign office. Introducing her at the event, he said, "I heard that you gave me a tomato the first time we met, and then a few days later you packed a dosirak of sticky rice to give me." Kim replied, "I made the sticky rice so you'd stick to it — now you have to go to Cheong Wa Dae."

Han responded, "If I win in Buk-gu Gap and get to go to Cheong Wa Dae, you will be the very first person I bring with me."


jshan@heraldcorp.com