”Exchanged for 362 yen tteokbokki”... Story of American tourist becomes ”Hot Topic” in Korea

A story about a foreign businessman visiting Korea paying for tteokbokki with cigarettes instead of money has become a hot topic.
Dilan Patel, founder of SemiAnalysis, a US semiconductor analysis company, invested in X on the 1st.
"I discovered a tteokbokki restaurant in South Korea run by two elderly women," Patel wrote. "When I asked if she wanted to take the card, she shook her head and spoke in Korean for a while, then...
"She went outside the store and waved for me to follow her," he recalled. "We went to a convenience store and she pointed to some cigarettes. I bought her some for 3,500 won (about 362 yen).
"After that, I came back and was given tteokbokki." In the photo he uploaded, he was seen eating tteokbokki at a famous tteokbokki restaurant in Seoul.
The menu posted on the refrigerator of the actual restaurant stated that tteokbokki, sundae, and kimbap were 3,500 won, a portion of fried food was 2,000 won, and a portion of oden was 1,000 won.
Since the story was published, it has been attracting a lot of attention from Korean netizens. As of the 2nd, it has received over 20,000 likes on X. Netizens have been commenting, "During the trip,
"Bartering is interesting," "Bartering for tteokbokki and cigarettes," "The shopkeeper is clever," and other responses were given. In addition, when one netizen asked, "How did it taste?"
, Patel wrote, "It was too spicy."