Visiting Side Dish Shops, Markets, and Bookstores to Experience the Popularity of K-Culture
Purchased Instant Tteokbokki at the Market
Bookstore Owner: "Sales of Korean Language Proficiency Test Study Guides Have Skyrocketed"
Kim Hye-kyung, wife of President Lee Jae-myung, visited a side dish shop, a market, and a bookstore in New York’s Koreatown on the 23rd (local time), according to a written briefing by Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Jeon Eun-soo on the 24th.
Known for her genuine love of home-cooked meals, Kim first stopped by a side dish shop in New York’s Koreatown that has been in business for 25 years. The shop owner said, “We actually have more local customers than Korean customers. The best-selling items are gimbap and japchae, and our most popular dishes are those that retain the authentic Korean flavor without being altered for American tastes.”
In response, Kim Hye-kyung remarked, “I think gimbap is especially popular because there are scenes in movies where people eat whole rolls of gimbap. Food is a major part of culture, and K-food is receiving a lot of attention these days. Once you get used to a certain cuisine, it’s hard to move away from it. Thank you for helping to widely promote such an important part of Korean food culture.” Kim also expressed her appreciation for the Korean owner’s efforts to showcase Korean culture by displaying items such as mother-of-pearl dining tables, small wooden tables, and rice bowls that have been passed down since his grandfather’s generation, in addition to selling side dishes.
After visiting the side dish shop, Kim went to a market, where she was surprised to hear from the manager that the best-selling items were Korean side dishes. She purchased instant tteokbokki and, while browsing the food section, asked if gimbap ingredients were also popular. The manager replied, “There’s a gimbap craze these days, so ingredients for gimbap are selling very well.”
Lastly, Kim visited a bookstore in New York’s Koreatown. She commented, “Running a bookstore in New York, you must feel the K-pop wave at the forefront.” The bookstore owner replied, “I’ve been running this bookstore for 20 years, and recently, I can really feel the surge in popularity of Korean culture. With the success of the animated film K-Pop Demon Hunters and author Han Kang’s Nobel Prize win, there has been an explosive increase in sales of books for learning Hangul and study guides for the Korean Language Proficiency Test.”
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