Oppa obsessed with cookery and music | 当玩音乐的韩国欧巴爱上做饭……

　　He had drifted between several Chinese cities running Korean restaurants before falling in love with a native Wuhan girl and settling down. While he is a committed chef, he has never neglected his career as a musician. Let's enter Lee Chul-hoon's world of "food + music" to unlock the mysteries of his life.

　　他在中国辗转经营过几家韩国餐厅，直到遇到一位武汉本地姑娘，并安家武汉。他执着于创造更美好的味道，也从未忘记最初的音乐梦想。让我们一同进入韩国老板李哲勋（Lee Chul-hoon）的“美食+音乐”世界，解锁他的人生AB面。

　　Lee's family

　　Genuine Korean cuisine in downtown

　　藏身闹市，烹出正宗韩国味

　　In the Taiheli Business District, there is a replica of the retro food stall from the Korean TV series Reply 1988. The old movie posters, the wall decorations, the table layout, everything here reminds you of the settings from the TV series and a Korean night market, where you drink, eat, and chat with friends as the protagonists do in "Ssangmundong."

　　在武汉太和里商圈，有一家餐厅神还原韩剧《请回答1988》里的复古大排档风格。墙上贴满电影海报，装修复刻韩国夜市街头，令你仿佛置身剧中。这里有酒有肉有故事，只待你一脚踏入“双门洞”。

　　This Korean restaurant opens punctually at 5 in the afternoon. Lee is in charge of the kitchen and he's selective about everything, the food preparation, the ingredients, the flavor, the cookery, and quite frankly, everything else that he enjoys doing.

　　下午5点，餐厅准时开餐。李哲勋的主战场是后厨，选材、配料、试味、炒煮，他样样得心应手。

　　Many diners come here for its signature specialties such as seafood onion pancakes, fried chicken with cabbage, and stir-fried spicy pork intestine. "We ensure them authentic Korean flavor, and we also keep inventing new recipes that integrate local flavors into Korean cuisine," Lee said. "The highly recommended pork intestine, for example, is what has recently been adapted to Wuhan diners' love for spiciness."

　　店内的招牌特色菜有海鲜葱饼、包菜炸鸡、爆炒麻辣猪大肠等。李哲勋说：“我们希望带给武汉人正宗的韩料口味，同时也在尝试将武汉口味融入韩国料理。目前推出的爆炒麻辣猪大肠反响很不错，是武汉人爱的重口味！”

　　Besides Korean food, Lee hopes that his customers also come to enjoy the other Korean features, the ornaments, Korean TV series, and nostalgia for the 1980s.

　　不仅是韩式美食，李哲勋还希望让武汉人沉浸式体验更多韩国元素，比如店内装饰和韩国电视剧，这些他记忆中80年代的韩国。

　　Lee busy working in kitchen Photo by Xia Junjun

　　Settling down in Wuhan

　　在武汉，找到家

　　Lee Chul-hoon seems to be quite nomadic.

　　李哲勋似乎挺能折腾。

　　When Lee first came to Wuhan in 2014, his father had just relocated his Korean barbecue shop in Beijing to Wuhan. Lee really didn't expect to stay, but ultimately, he did stay with his father, running the barbeque at Rxhmall, Hanyang. The restaurant turned out to be a success, but he decided to move on again.

　　2014年，李哲勋第一次来到武汉。当时父亲把在北京经营的韩国烤肉店搬到了武汉，他随着父亲一起来。没想来到武汉后，他就留了下来，与父亲一起在汉阳人信汇打理烤肉店的生意。虽然餐厅的美食颇受客人欢迎，但他并不满足于此。

　　At the end of 2020, he opened another Korean restaurant with Korean friends in Danjiangkou, Shiyan, but a few months later, he decided to quit because his wife was not accustomed to life there and wanted to return to Wuhan. In July this year, he decided to join the Cuis Tri-Son Korean Barbecue and became the co-owner of the business with two other Koreans.

　　2020年底，他与韩国朋友在十堰的丹江口合开了一家韩国餐厅。数月后他决定退出，因为妻子不习惯丹江口的生活，想回武汉。今年7月，他决定入伙崔家三男·韩国烤肉大排档，和两位韩国同行共同打理生意。

　　Wuhan is not just another city for business. Lee has now made it his home.

　　武汉不仅是李哲勋的生意主场，更是他心中的家。

　　How he met his future wife was like a plot in a Korean idol drama, Lee recalls. One day she and her friends came to his Korean restaurant at Rxhmall, Hanyang, and somehow, he found himself deep in conversation with her about Korean food, dramas, and history. They added each other on WeChat and fell in love with each other over time and then tied the knot. Now they have an adorable kindergartener daughter.

　　李哲勋的妻子是武汉人，两人的相遇如同韩国偶像剧里的剧情。一天，她与友人到李哲勋和父亲在汉阳人信汇经营的韩国餐厅吃饭。交谈中，李哲勋发现她对韩国美食、韩剧、历史都很有兴趣，于是两人添加了微信好友。在后来的联络中，他们爱上彼此，并决定组成家庭。如今他们的女儿已经上幼儿园了。

　　A solid music got talent

　　实力派音乐达人

　　As the saying goes, art is long, life is short. Restaurant owner Lee has a hidden secret talent as a musician. Before coming to China, he had been in the music business for more than 20 years in Korea, occasionally serving as a trainee tutor. However, running restaurants has not detached him from his music dream.

　　俗话说，艺多不压身。做饭好吃的李老板还拥有一个隐藏身份——音乐人。来中国前，他在韩国做了20多年音乐工作，还曾担任过练习生导师。在武汉经营餐馆并没有剥夺他的音乐梦想。

　　This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and South Korea. Lee coauthored the Korean lyrics of the song "Creating the Future Together" early this year. In late August, the song was performed by a student choir from the Wuhan Conservatory of Music, at the National Day banquet held by Korean Consulate General in Wuhan.

　　今年正值中韩建交三十周年。年初，李哲勋参与创作公益歌曲《共创未来》的部分韩语歌词。今年8月底，在韩国驻汉总领事馆举办的国庆晚宴上，武汉音乐学院的学生一起合唱了这首歌。

　　As early as June 2020, Lee appeared in "Our Shared Home," a Korea-China joint MV as an anti-epidemic public advertisement.

　　2020年6月，他还参与了韩中合作的抗疫MV《共同的家园》的录制。

　　In the past few years, Lee has tutored many students in vocal music, dozens of whom were Wuhan native admirers, and some even from other cities, Lee told us. "Many got to know my name through friends and acquaintances. Some of them were music enthusiasts, and some came for serious professionalism." Whoever turns to him for vocal training, Lee will always do his best.

　　这些年，陆续有学生找上李哲勋，请他指导演唱歌曲。李哲勋表示，武汉的学生就有数十位，还有一些外地学生也慕名前来学艺。“很多都是熟人朋友介绍过来的，有一部分是音乐爱好者，还有一些是希望经过培训后变得更专业。”对于这些学生，他都竭尽所能帮助他们。

　　Wuhan has developed rapidly in recent years, said Lee Chul-hoon. Metro Line 3 was not yet open to traffic the year when he first came to the city. "Now Line 11 is in operation." More and more Koreans are working and doing business in the city, as can be observed from the increasing number of Koreans frequenting his restaurant.

　　李哲勋说，武汉这几年发展得很快。刚来武汉时，地铁3号线还没通车，“现在都有11号线了”。这几年到武汉工作、经商的韩国人越来越多，到他的餐厅吃饭的韩国人也变多了。

　　Wuhan is Lee's second hometown. He has witnessed the fast growth of this hopeful land and has grown with it. We wish him long-term prosperity in his adopted city.

　　武汉已然成为李哲勋的“第二故乡”。他目睹了这座城市的飞速发展，也借着这片福地不断成长。祝福他继续在此闯出一片天。

　　(Edited by Ye Shiyu)