North Korean Defector and Entrepreneur Lee Soon-sil Struggles to Boost Dumpling Sales at Food Expo

North Korean defector and entrepreneur Lee Soon-sil was seen hustling to sell dumplings at a food expo.

On the October 12th episode of KBS2's variety show 'The Boss Has Donkey Ears,' Lee Soon-sil participated in a food expo with her staff to sell dumplings.

Lee stated, "We are at a food expo to introduce our new menu."

On the first day of the expo, Lee was frustrated to find that sales only reached 1.1 million won. She scolded her staff, saying, "What have you been doing for two days? The dumplings are still all here."

Lee expressed her anger over the low sales, noting, "The booth rental cost is 6 million won. Sales of 1.1 million won over two days? I feel like killing everyone." She set a goal to sell 250 packs of dumplings on the second day to recover from the poor sales.

Lee personally encouraged customers to taste the dumplings, instructing her staff to cut them into quarters instead of halves. She also used exaggerated charm to attract customers, which shocked the studio audience. MC Kim Sook commented, "That's too much," while Jeon Hyun-moo remarked, "It's negatively affecting sales."

Despite her efforts, many customers only sampled the dumplings without purchasing. In response, Lee took drastic measures, shouting, "If you taste it, line up and buy one. If you leave without buying, I'll shoot you all." She instructed her staff to watch for customers trying to leave without purchasing and told them, "If you're not buying, don't even taste it. You must buy it."

The expo also attracted Chinese customers, and when one spoke in Chinese, Kim So-yeon responded in kind. Lee explained, "North Korean defectors are good at Chinese not because they learned it, but because they had to survive in China."

After checking the inventory, Lee noted, "Sales were lower than expected," and suggested, "Let's try selling in a different way." Shortly after, she decided to host a 'North Korean Cooking Show' in the seminar room at the expo.

Reported by Kim Ji-won, TenAsia bella@tenasia.co.kr