When Mr. Park Chung-gun sold vermicelli
At a corner of Tran Van Lai Street (Hanoi), which is bustling with shops, there is a restaurant with a very strange name: “Mr. Park – Vietnamese bun cha”. And at that strange restaurant, a very familiar owner was standing at the door to welcome customers. Dressed neatly, wearing an elegant suit and his signature gentle bow, expert Park Chung-gun is starting a new journey in Vietnam: opening a bun cha restaurant bearing his name.
Expert Park Chung-gun is no stranger to Vietnamese sports. He is the most successful foreign teacher that the sports industry has ever collaborated with, when he and coach Nguyen Thi Nhung trained talented shooters such as Hoang Xuan Vinh, Tran Quoc Cuong, Pham Quang Huy, and Trinh Thu Vinh. The pinnacle of expert Park and coach Nguyen Thi Nhung is 1 gold medal and 1 silver medal that Hoang Xuan Vinh won at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Vietnamese bun cha restaurant of expert Park Chung-gun on Tran Van Lai Street (Hanoi City)
Expert Park Chung-gun dedicatedly introduces dishes to diners
Expert Park Chung-gun welcomed special guests, who are reporters and experts with many years of experience with Vietnamese sports.
To date, Hoang Xuan Vinh’s gold medal in the men’s 10m air pistol event is still the highest mountain peak that Vietnamese sports have ever conquered.
After that, expert Park Chung-gun continued to train Pham Quang Huy to win the gold medal at ASIAD 19 (2023) in Hangzhou, China. To date, this is still the only gold medal that Vietnamese shooters have ever achieved in Asia’s largest playground. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, under the guidance and guidance of expert Park, shooter Trinh Thu Vinh ranked fourth in the women’s 10m air pistol event, then reached the final of the 25m sports pistol event. female. Athletes born in 2000 achieved this achievement the first time they entered the Olympics.
However, Mr. Park Chung-gun later did not renew his contract with the Vietnamese shooter. The Korean expert decided to take a break to spend time with his family. After returning to his hometown for a while, then to the US (Mr. Park’s family lives in the US), Mr. Park Chung-gun decided to return to Vietnam to do the bun cha business.
“Is bun cha delicious?” Mr. Park asked me and the other diners with kindness, even though his Vietnamese… was not fluent. Assisting Mr. Park in opening a restaurant, choosing flavors and designing dishes, former coach Nguyen Thi Nhung of the Vietnam shooting team affirmed that Mr. Park is very meticulous in choosing dishes.
Bun cha dish at Mr. Park’s restaurant
Korean customers also love the Vietnamese flavor in bun cha
“Mr. Park Chung-gun likes Vietnamese food and wanted to create a bun cha dish that has both pure Vietnamese flavor and meets the fastidious requirements of foreign diners,” said Coach Nguyen Thi Nhung, who is known as ” “steel rose” of Vietnamese shooting shared. Initially, many customers came partly because of Mr. Park, partly because of curiosity about the attractive name “Mr. Park’s noodle soup”. Then, thanks to the delicious food, many people came back, even choosing their “favorite” restaurant for familiar, delicious food.
Love Vietnam with all my heart
Although it has not been open for long and has not yet created a widespread image, Mr. Park Chung-gun’s noodle shop is still crowded with both Vietnamese and Korean customers (because the noodle shop is near an area where many Koreans live). Even though it was crowded, the former Vietnam shooting team expert still dedicatedly served each table, listened to feedback, and took notes to tell the kitchen to make adjustments.
“I always want to pay attention to every detail no matter what job I do. Whatever I do, I must do it with all my heart, dedication, and with a heart of love and gratitude, whether it’s shooting training, business, or serving.” , Mr. Park Chung-gun shared, with his characteristic gentle smile that has made an impression on many generations of shooters.
After leaving the shooting team, Mr. Park Chung-gun was wondering whether to stay in Vietnam or go to America to live. Then, the attraction of friendly, peaceful Vietnam kept the Korean expert to stay.
“If I leave the shooting team, I will still be in Vietnam, everything is great here. I have Korean friends, including my close brother Park Hang-seo. I want to enjoy every moment etching”, Mr. Park Chung-gun shared with the writer nearly 2 years ago. He kept his word and stayed here to continue enjoying life in the place he had long considered his second home.
“Mr. Park likes life in Hanoi. Just enough excitement, just enough peace, everything fits very well,” coach Nguyen Thi Nhung confided.
For his contributions to shooting in particular and Vietnamese sports in general, expert Park Chung-gun was awarded the third-class Labor Medal by the President.
In response, Mr. Park Chung-gun shared: “Over the past 10 years, while working here, I have always considered Vietnam as my second home. I have experienced both success and failure. But in the end, those are all beautiful memories.
I always think that the Vietnamese shooting team will be even more successful, instead of stopping at its recent achievements. I hope Vietnamese shooting will invite more talented experts than me so that shooters can win gold medals at ASIAD and the Olympics.”
