The "sticky rice grandmother," widely credited as a key contributor to the election victory of independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon (Buk-gu A district, Busan), has been spared from having her street stall demolished. The Busan Buk-gu district office announced that it had removed the "No Street Vending" sign posted in front of the stall run by Kim Bok-ak, 80, and that it would manage the site mainly through verbal guidance going forward.
According to political sources on Thursday, the Busan Buk-gu district office removed the "No Street Vending" sign that had been installed in front of Kim's stall, where she sells tomatoes, perilla leaves and other produce at Gupo Market in Buk-gu, Busan, following instructions from Buk-gu District Chief Jeong Myeong-hee.
Earlier, on June 26, as complaints demanding the removal of the illegal street stall continued, the district office issued Kim a notice and requested that she voluntarily remove the stall. It also installed a "No Street Vending" sign near the stall.
When this became known, some criticized the move as "an excessive measure against a subsistence street vendor," and the district office received a stream of complaints demanding the sign's removal. In response, District Chief Jeong said, "It could be misunderstood as political, so I immediately ordered the sign removed, and going forward we plan to manage it mainly through verbal guidance."
Kim handed a tomato to Han while he was campaigning at Gupo Market on April 28, and on May 8, Parents' Day, she served him sticky rice and kimchi that she had prepared herself. The image of Han sitting beside Kim and eating the sticky rice drew attention and spread through YouTube and various social networking services (SNS).
Han posted the related photo as his SNS profile picture, and among internet users, comments such as "It's nice to see" and "I've come to see Han Dong-hoon in a new light" emerged.
The connection between the two did not end as a one-time event. Han personally invited Kim to the opening ceremony of his campaign office on May 10. Last weekend (June 29), Han also visited Kim's stall and shared tomatoes with her.
