CHUNCHEON, South Korea _ Choi Moon-soon fanned out his wad of coronavirus stimulus money for the cameras like a gambler flaunting hundred-dollar bills.
He navigated the narrow aisles of a market in Gangwon province, walking between stalls stacked high with socks, hats and kitchen wares that in recent months had gathered dust. Cameras flashed with his every step. An entourage of dozens followed.
Gangwon, a mountainous land in the northeast of South Korea, was largely spared the coronavirus outbreak that has wreaked havoc around the world _ but its tourism-dependent economy was not. Ranks of Japanese and Chinese visiting filming sites for Korean dramas evaporated overnight, as did the weekend travelers from Seoul that account for much of the area's income.
Having mostly contained the virus earlier than other countries, South Korea is turning its attention to recovery and fixing months of economic devastation, while still struggling to stem smaller cluster outbreaks. Like governments elsewhere, including the U.S., the country handed out cash stimulus payments to most citizens to revive frozen local economies.
Choi, a former broadcast journalist in his 10th year as governor, had over the decades left the household shopping to his wife, wearing clothes and shoes she picked out for him. But now he wanted to lead by example to encourage residents to spend.
So on a recent Monday, with hordes of reporters and fellow bureaucrats in tow, he put on a suit jacket and went shopping.
