'Moon Jae-in goods' in vogue
President Moon Jae-in adjusts his Lindberg glasses in this file photo. / Korea Times file
By Park Jae-hyuk
President Moon Jae-in fever among Koreans has recently created new demands in the market.
In line with his 81.6 percent approval rating, brands that the President used have consecutively been sold out by his fans just like K-pop idols’ items.
The so-called “Moon Jae-in goods” include Moon’s glasses, shoes, coffee, tie and outdoor jacket, as well as books, military uniform and election campaign jumper.
The most popular one among them might be his Lindberg eyewear which earlier provoked controversy in the 2012 presidential election campaign due to its high price. The same glasses cost around 800,000 won ($716) at department stores here.
More Koreans, however, began to regard the glasses as practical ─ not luxurious ─ in the latest presidential election campaign, because Moon has worn them for over five years.
An optician in Busan recently posted his picture with Moon on Instagram and wrote: “You haven’t got old at all. I had hard times after selling you the glasses five years ago, but now I feel relaxed.”
Unlike other eyewear brands, Lindberg directly contracts with retailers without brokers. Although the Denmark-based firm supplies its products to few stores, more than 12,000 Lindberg glasses were sold last year and the figure seems to be growing further.
President Moon Jae-in’s worn-out AGIO shoes in circle are shown to the public during a state ceremony to commemorate the May 18 Democratic Uprising in Gwangju. / Yonhap
While the eyewear might be the most popular of the “Moon Jae-in goods,” his shoes might be the rarest among them.
Moon’s AGIO footwear has recently gone viral after the worn-out shoes were shown to the public last week during a state ceremony to commemorate the May 18 Democratic Uprising in Gwangju.
The shoes were made by deaf craftsmen working for a social enterprise. However, they are no longer available, as the company closed its business four years ago.
A recipe for “Moon blend” coffee is written on a board at Club Espresso in Jongno, Seoul, in this file photo. / Yonhap
Along with the glasses and the shoes, a recipe for coffee that Moon enjoys has been in the limelight as well.
Club Espresso in Jongno, Seoul, began to sell “Moon blend” coffee right after the President’s inauguration, saying Moon often visited the coffee shop.
“He always wanted coffee in the ratio of four Colombian, three Brazilian, two Ethiopian and one Guatemalan,” Ma Eun-sik, an owner of the store, wrote on Facebook. “Just a few in Busan know the ratio.”
But other stores have begun to sell “Moon Jae-in coffee” as well.
Also, fans struggle to get orange Black Yak jackets, which Moon frequently wore, because it was released in limited edition. Orange ties with a seal print symbolizing the Dokdo islets have been also sold out in major domestic online malls.
Dokdo is Korea’s easternmost territory of Korea but Japan also claims its sovereignty over the islets, which are rich fishery resources. But the volcanic outcroppings are currently under the control of Korea with the country’s armed police officers stationed there.
In bookshops, his autobiography “Moon Jae-in: The Destiny” and the Time magazine issue that carried Moon’s interview both topped bestseller lists.
Some supporters even purchased military uniforms and blue election campaign jumpers with Moon’s name on them from online secondhand markets.
They posted pictures of those items with the hashtag “Innie Blue,” which stands for the President’s nickname and the symbolic color of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK).
While saying the fad is unprecedented, experts warn that some people may come up with fake products to lure in uninformed customers. In other countries such as the United States, goods related to politicians are often marketed to sponsor them.