President Lee Visits Jeju Dongmun Market, Says to First Lady Kim, "Honey, Let's Buy Young Napa Cabbage Kimchi"

Visit Follows Jeju Town Hall Meeting

Purchasing Rice Cakes, Silver Hairtail, and Tilefish... Taking Selfies and High-Fiving Children

Wrapping Up a Two-Day Jeju Itinerary

Presidential Spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung announced that President Lee Jaemyung, together with First Lady Kim Hye-kyung, visited Dongmun Market as the final stop of their two-day itinerary in Jeju on the afternoon of the 30th, following the conclusion of the Jeju Town Hall Meeting, "Listening to the Heart of Jeju."

Yonhap News Agency

Dongmun Market, a representative traditional market located in downtown Jeju City, was abuzz with excitement as merchants and visitors greeted the presidential couple with cheers and applause upon hearing of their visit. When President Lee asked a foreign tourist standing at the entrance where they were from, the tourist replied, "Australia."

The President and First Lady continued to take selfies and shake hands with visitors as they stopped by a fruit mochi store, where they purchased Hallabong mochi and strawberry mochi with Onnuri gift certificates and tasted them on the spot together with Spokesperson Kang Yoo-jung, Chief Secretary Ha Jung-woo, and others.

Even as requests for selfies continued throughout their walk, the presidential couple responded warmly. Many Jeju residents in the market expressed their excitement by calling out, "We love you," "Amazing," and "Fighting" as the couple passed by. President Lee was especially responsive to children's requests for photos, stopping whenever he heard, "There’s a child," to high-five the kids or take cheerful selfies with them. He also accepted a puppy from a local resident who greeted the couple with the dog in their arms, posing for a photo together.

At a rice cake shop, the presidential couple bought and tasted Omegi rice cakes, encouraging their staff to try them as well. At a vegetable shop, they bought zucchini and garlic scapes, and at a fish shop, they purchased Jeju silver cutlassfish and packaged salted mackerel, wishing the merchants, "Hope you sell a lot." At a store selling kimchi and salted seafood, when Mrs. Kim bought pickled chili peppers, President Lee affectionately called her "Honey" and asked her to buy young radish kimchi for him as well.

At another fish shop they visited, President Lee heard from the owner that their child was due in June, to which he asked after the family and offered his congratulations before purchasing dried Jeju tilefish. When they encountered a woman who introduced herself as a resident of Gyeyang District visiting Jeju, Mrs. Kim expressed her delight to President Lee, saying, "She’s from Gyeyang District."

Yonhap News Agency

At a fruit store, President Lee sampled and purchased Cheonhyehyang and Surahyang citrus, encouraging local residents nearby to try them, saying, "It's delicious, please buy a lot." He then bought a box of chocolates at a shop selling Hallabong juice and chocolates, personally handing them out to his staff, and quickly finished the Hallabong juice Mrs. Kim had purchased.

When Mrs. Kim ran out of her own Onnuri gift certificates while buying Udo peanuts and sand wafers at another store, President Lee was seen taking out his own gift certificates to hand to her. According to Spokesperson Kang, the presidential couple spent over an hour touring the market, warmly welcomed by Jeju residents and tourists, before concluding their two-day itinerary in Jeju.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.