Former President Moon Jae-in opened Pyeongsan Books upon leaving office in 2022
(via Pyeongsan Books on Facebook)
Former President Moon Jae-in’s bookshop Pyeongsan Books has welcomed over half a million customers since it opened more than three years ago, with an average of over 500 people popping by the store each day. Moon opened the bookstore upon relocating to South Gyeongsang Province’s Yangsan following his departure from office in 2022. “Aug. 8 marked the 1,200-day anniversary of our bookshop. A total of 628,769 people have visited the shop, which means that a daily average of 523 people have made the journey to Pyeongsan Books, a shop in a sleepy country village surrounded by beautiful nature,” the store said in a post on its Facebook page on Sunday. “Moon, an avid bookworm, has been volunteering at Pyeongsan Books since he left office. He has remained in this small bookshop, which is only around 30-pyeong in size, to use books as a medium to converse with visitors almost every day, only vacating the space during family holidays or events held in Seoul,” the bookshop stated. To date, the former president has also recommended 124 books, including Jeong Jia’s “Father’s Liberation Day,” and the poet Jeong Ho-seung’s “To be Lonely is to be Human.” The shop explained that it uses the profit it makes to give back to the community.“By seeking out and setting up temporary bookshops for students in facilities for underprivileged children and teenagers, including special needs schools, child protection agencies, and those living in remote areas, we have enabled them to choose the books that they want to read,” it said. “Since our opening, we have gifted 2,122 people with 4,466 books, along with reading journals and tote bags,” the shop continued, noting that it has donated 3,950 books to 79 small libraries in Yangsan and 1,280 more books to around 40 small libraries scattered across Korea through its donation program.By Song Gyung-hwa, staff reporterPlease direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]
