search

INSIGHT

Secret behind President Moon's tattered shoes

by Knowing Korea

[[Image : Real Story TV channel in Youtube (Link)]]

 

In Korea, as is the case in every country, every move of the national leader Moon Jae-In attracts attention from the public. As such, his shoes became famous in the last presidential election for two very specific reasons.

The first of these are their worn-out soles. When Moon attended the 2016 memorial ceremony of the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement as a presidential candidate, photographs of the worn-out soles of his shoes touched the hearts of Korea's average joes and janes who struggle to bring bread to the table.

The second reason that Mr. Moon's shoes received attention was because the shop he bought his shoes was a social enterprise founded by Yu Seok-yeong, the former owner of Scene of Making Shoes, with six hearing-impaired employees.

In Korea, a social enterprise is an intermediate form between a for-profit and a non-profit company, where social purpose is the top priority. It is said that he bought the shoesback in 2012 when he was the leader of the Democratic Party in hopes of providing some small assistance for the self-reliance of hearing-impaired people.

Unfortunately, despite Moon's support, the company shut down in August 2013 due to financial difficulties.