On January 24 Korean President Moon Jae-in visited the Sum Sim Dang bakery, which is part of the Focolare’s Economy of Communion project. For a business owner, it goes without saying that having the president of the republic visit your business is an exceptional event. But if that visit happens on the president’s birthday, it’s even more so! That’s exactly what happened in Daejeon to Amata Kim and Fedes Im, two Korean entrepreneurs who are part of the Economy of Communion and run the well-known bakery Sung Sim Dang. Moon Jae-in, who has been South Korea’s president since May 2017, is known in the West for starting the peace process with North Korea after almost 70 years of cold war. He celebrated his birthday at Sung Sim Dang with a magnificent cake and was able to get to know the business’s history and reality up close. His Instagram post got more than 76,000 likes in just a few hours. “I was pleasantly surprised today to celebrate my birthday at the Sung Sim Dang bakery in Daejeon,” he said. “During the war in 1950 my father and the bakery’s founder (Fedes’ father) were on the same evacuation ship, Victoria, fleeing North Korea. Remembering this moment of history is for us is something we hold dear and precious. My birthday is a day like any other, but today I am recharged with new strength from the well wishes of so many. Thank you!” The event resonated widely in the media, partly because Sung Sim Dang is universally recognized and highly valued throughout the city of Daejeon. Click here to see video highlights from the visit.

Antonella Ferrucci

Source:   www.edc-online.org