Moon, first lady give regional specialties as Chuseok gifts

President Moon Jae-in and first lady Kim Jung-sook sent out regional specialties as Chuseok gifts for about 15,000 people, including front-line health care workers fighting COVID-19, according to Cheong Wa Dae on Sunday.

The presidential couple favors locally produced foods when giving official gifts for major holidays.

This year’s gift boxes consisted of rice from Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province; Yanggu, Gangwon Province; Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province; Yesan, South Chungcheong Province; Iksan, North Jeolla Province; Naju, South Jeolla Province; Sangju, North Gyeongsang Province; and Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.

Also included were bottles of rice liquor or honey from Chungju, North Chungcheong Province.

Compared with past years, the packaging has been drastically reduced and now consists entirely of paper.

In addition to health care and quarantine workers, the gift boxes were delivered to senior leaders, patriots, veterans and low-income households.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)