April 14th, 2011 Part1 @Seoul
Most of the vendors of The Big Issue Korea are in their 50s and 60s but there are some youngsters. Goo Bon Chun is one of those, who is selling this magazine at Jonggak, in Seoul. Just talking with him just one minute or two, you will realize his shyness and warmness. Born as the seventh child, he left home at the age of thirty to be independent economically. Living as a daily-worker, however, heavy work brought him into illness and the life on the street. Thomas House, an NPO organization based at Youndeunpo, Seoul introduced him to The Big Issue Korea.
He showed me his treasure, which was a medal from The Homeless World Cup held in Rio de Janeiro last year (http://www.homelessworldcup.org/). He really enjoyed kids’ coming to him for a signature, because he had been invisible on the street in Seoul for such a long time. “Futsal changed my life and I restored self-respect”, he said, with a big smile.