Inside President Lee’s enduring affection for traditional markets

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Inside President Lee’s enduring affection for traditional markets

Published: 27 Dec. 2025, 10:23 Updated: 28 Dec. 2025, 18:02

SARAH CHEA
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

President Lee Jae Myung, center, talks with a yogurt vendor at a traditional market in Busan on Dec. 23. [NEWS1]

“My younger sister, who died, used to sell yogurt. She told me how hard the work was," President Lee Jae Myung said while holding the hand of a yogurt vendor at Bujeon Market in Busan on Tuesday.

Lee bought 13 bottles of a fermented milk drink marketed for liver health, priced at 2,700 won ($2) each, and handed them out to aides, including Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, presidential chief of staff Kang Hoon-sik and members of his security detail.

“Yes, it’s very hard,” the vendor replied. “We work outdoors, so there are many difficulties.”

President Lee's sister, Lee Jae-ok, died in 2014 after collapsing from overwork while employed as a cleaner.

While visits to traditional markets have long been a staple of Korean presidential politics, serving as both a barometer of prices and a gesture of populist outreach, Lee’s relationship with these spaces runs deeper than convention. During his presidential campaign, he toured small cities and neighborhood markets as part of what he called a “listening tour.”

Since taking office, he has repeatedly added impromptu market stops to his schedule, regardless of region.

Lee's visit to the market on Tuesday was also an unannounced stop, made shortly after a Cabinet meeting at the temporary headquarters of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in Busan. At the market, Lee crouched beside an older woman selling sweet potatoes, paid her in cash and asked whether the cold weather had been hard on her.

He also greeted a tourist from Taiwan, shaking hands and flashing a thumbs-up as he said, “Welcome to Korea.”

President Lee Jae Myung tastes food at a traditional market in Incheon on Sept. 5. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

While having lunch at a seafood restaurant in the market, Lee urged Cabinet members and presidential aides to “focus all available efforts on resolving issues affecting people’s livelihoods.”

Beginning with a visit to Namsung Saje Market in Seoul’s Dongjak District on June 6, just two days after his inauguration, the president has visited traditional markets eight times in six months. His stops have included markets in Ulsan, Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi and, most recently, Busan.

Lee has often cited Seongnam’s Sangdaewon Market, where he grew up, as central to his personal history. In his memoirs, he wrote that his father worked there as a cleaner pushing a handcart, while his mother cleaned public toilets and collected usage fees.

During a campaign stop at the market in January 2022, he recalled those years and said, through tears, that “everything I do reflects the harshness of Lee Jae Myung’s life.”

First lady Kim Hea Kyung visits a traditional market in Gyeyang, Incheon, to use stimulus coupons on July 25. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Traditional markets have also been major beneficiaries of the administration’s consumer spending coupons issued as part of its economic recovery efforts, making them effective venues for policy outreach. During the coupon campaign, first lady Kim Hea Kyung visited several markets in place of the president to promote their use.

"The president feels a deep personal attachment to markets, in part because of his family’s history, and sees the visits as a way to remain grounded," said a spokesperson for the presidential office. “These are not performative appearances. They reflect his governing philosophy of listening directly to the people and incorporating their voices into policy.”

President Lee Jae Myung talks with merchants at a traditional market in Busan on Dec. 23. [YONHAP]

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

BY HA JUN-HO [[email protected]]