First off, congratulations on being chosen
as a ‘Food Truck project’ recipient. Could you please introduce yourself and
tell us how you feel?
 Image: Daily NK |
My name is Park Yeong Ho (age 27, pictured left), and I
was chosen as the recipient of the ‘North Korean defector food truck project.’
I am from Musan of North Hamgyong Province and came to South Korea in 2002. I
am currently studying business administration at Sogang University with one
semester left until graduation. In the latter half of last year, I took six
months off to make preparations for my food truck business, and I plan on
returning to school in March. Since the food truck opens Friday to Sunday every
week, I don’t think school will be a problem for my business. I’ll be serving
up tasty and healthy food, so I hope a lot of people come.”
Tell us more about this food truck project.
The Ministry of Unification, Korea Racing
Authority, and Hyundai Motor Group signed a deal in 2015 and have been looking
for people to take part in their project to support defectors in opening up
small businesses. I was lucky enough to get through the document screening and
interview process and become a recipient.
How did these three organizations help you?
“The Korea Racing Authority paid for the
car renovation costs, provided an area to set up my truck, and covered
consulting fees. Hyundai Motor Group provided the vehicle (as part of its ‘Gift
Car Campaign’) and paid for the start-up costs. Korea Hana Foundation (under
the Ministry of Unification) provided overall assistance. Also, the company
‘Creativity and Innovation’ provided a lot of advice and consulting about
starting a new business.
It was because of these people that I was able to reduce trial and error, and I
also saved a lot in terms of start-up capital. I’d like to use this opportunity
to thank them once again for their help.
Did you always want to start your own
business?
The food truck was something I had been
working on even before Korea Hana Foundation announced it was looking for
applicants. I had been gathering related information since my second year in
university. I had gone backpacking to Germany to see how people from West and
East Germany now live as one after unification. At the time, I came across a
food truck and was deeply moved by how happy people looked eating that food.
Even though it might have been in that short moment, they looked as if they
didn’t have a thing to worry about in the world. That’s when I decided that I
wanted to be someone who could share happiness with others. Also, it was just
so good to see people freely eating and drinking in the streets.
Somehow, the word ‘freedom’ seems to be quite
fitting.
In a way, the most important thing in life
is freedom. I value freedom and want to live freely. In this sense, food trucks
go well with this idea. It feels like I’m sharing freedom with others. That’s
how I began looking into food trucks after visiting Germany. But unfortunately
at the time, there were many regulations against food trucks, making it almost
impossible to do anything. Fortunately, the government started to strip back on
these regulations, and I was able to apply for this project for North Korean
defectors and win approval.
You’ve named your business ‘Youth Sanghoe
(word commonly used in the past to describe a shop/stand).’ What does it mean?
I wanted to have a name that was both fun
and had meaning. The word ‘youth’ emphasizes young spirit, and ‘sanghoe’ was a
word that I chose to make it more familiar with older generations. In some
ways, I wanted to share youth along with my food. Through this, I wanted to
share happiness with people. But, I still don’t think this is being conveyed
properly, so I plan on working even harder.
You now have your business up and running.
How does it feel?.
January 15th was opening day, so quite a
lot of time has passed. It would be a lie if I said things aren’t difficult. It
being winter and all, my hands and feet would freeze up a lot.
But I still love it. I’m doing it because I
want to, and it’s my own business. I’ve worked briefly at a different company
and often at construction sites for part-time work. This work is a lot harder,
but I like it much better now, and it’s less stressful.
I’m sure things are different from what you
expected though.
Of course, I’ve run into a lot of
unexpected problems. But I don’t really worry about things too much. I have a
reckless side to me, so I just start things and see how they go. A lot of other
business owners seem to examine the costs and follow a manual of sorts, but I’m
not like that at all. I tend to think you can try things out and make changes
as you go one at a time, and I’m currently in that process.
The core of running a business is
profitability. What kind of strategies do you have to maximize profit?
Currently I have five things on the menu,
but I want to cut them down to three. I plan on focusing on foods that can be quickly
made and served up. I’m also going to place more attention on the ingredients.
Making money is of course important, but I want to uphold my own goals of
providing people with clean and healthy food.
Above all else, I am going to work to
convey the meaning behind ‘Youth Sanghoe.’ I’m going to work harder to deliver
happiness. Of course, approaching customers with kindness is the management
policy that I place the most emphasis on.
You’ve become a business owner in Korea. I
imagine it brings back a lot of memories from when you were first settling
down.
My first thoughts are about the good friends and people around me. I’m more of
an extrovert, so I’m not shy to take things head on. To be honest, I’m not that
into studying. So I’ve never had much stress about studying and instead had
more fears about adapting quickly and getting closer to people. Through this
process, I met a lot of good people around me, and I believe that these things
were factors that allowed for good things to happen like what I have today.
Were there any rough times that you went
through during your resettlement?
There were plenty. I think a lot of
experiences I had were disheartening and sad. When I was young, I got into a
fight with my friend at school. Regardless of who was in the right or wrong,
the parents of that friend came for a counseling session with our teacher, but
I didn’t have anyone to come. These things made me quite sad. I understand now
that the process of settling down in South Korean society as a North Korean
defector just comes with a lot of heartbreaking experiences.
I’d like to use this opportunity to tell
people that being born in North Korea is not a sin. I tell my friends that I
came from Musan of North Hamgyong Province. People commonly tell others that
they’re from Jeolla Province, Gyeongsang Province, Chungcheong Province etc. I
want people to think of the North in the same way. Instead of thinking of me as
a North Korean defector, I hope they see me as a young person from Musan, North
Hamgyong Province.
What kind of plans do you have for the
future?
I want to repay the kindness that I’ve received from people. Also, I want to
give others the opportunities that I’ve received. Though this may seem
ambitious, it’s my current goal.
First, I will try my hardest to get the current food truck business on the
right track. I believe I’m one of the only North Korean defectors running a legal food
truck operation [there are 118 legitimate food trucks in South Korea, according to data released by the South Korean government]. So I have the duty to do well. By seeing success, I hope to
see 100 or more food trucks like this.
Also, I plan to give back the same amount
of help that I received during my settlement in the South. Though my plans are
not detailed, if I become successful and make a lot of money, I plan to hire an
equal ratio of North and South Korean youths and work together with them. For
example, ten North Korean youths and ten South Korean youths. I want to work
with them, teach them various know-how and help them become independent.
Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju Yung worked
to always share with others. Though I don’t know if I can earn as much as he
did, I want to become an entrepreneur that ‘puts sharing into practice’. I will
also work harder especially for those who have supported me and cheered me on.
 Image: Yonhap News Agency |
