Without any grand opening event, I opened Cherry Garden in Haeundae. Because we couldn't properly promote it on foreign social media, many people don't know about it yet. Tourists just stumble upon the Cherry Garden sign while walking down the street and wander in. Some of them say, "As soon as I saw the sign from a taxi, I was so glad I got out right away." When they come into the store and see me, they hug me tight out of sheer joy. They even show me photos they took at Cherry Garden in Seoul. We've opened a small "Cherry Garden Chicken" in Haeundae, Busan, with a separate space next to it selling souvenirs. It's a store tailored for multi-national tourists. Among global travelers coming to Korea, many used to pass through Busan on their way to Japan or Jeju Island. Lately, people prefer Japan over Jeju because the image of Jeju Island has been fading. With this new chapter for Cherry Garden in Busan, I am giving it my absolute best, leaving the rest up to providence (jin-insa dae-cheon-myeong). There are almost no traditional Korean restaurants in Haeundae that can cater to vegan, vegetarian, or halal dietary needs. While there are various international cuisines available, some traveling visitors specifically want Korean food, so we plan to welcome them as our main clientele. Travelers kept earnestly begging me, "Please open a Cherry Garden in Busan, too," so I finally started it. Of course, the investors are friends and residents from Singapore. I told the investors, "Let's not be too greedy for the time being." Out of the 3 million tourists visiting Busan, 300,000 need these specific diets. If we can turn just 1% of them into our customers, that's more than enough.

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]