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“Don’t hold out your palm expecting something from others—turn it over and give. Real generosity is sharing as far as you can, even if you tell yourself giving half is enough.”
At 72, Seo Hak-bo runs Mandabok, a cozy Chinese restaurant in Jung-gu’s Chinatown—an area steeped in Incheon’s opening-to-the-world history. If you ask him to sum up his life, he’ll use two words: sharing and community. True to the restaurant’s name, which wishes blessings for many, Seo partners with the Central Police Station Citizens’ Police Association every year on Disability Day to serve lovingly prepared jjajangmyeon to roughly 250 locals, including people with disabilities. He’s kept that tradition going every year except during the worst of COVID-19—because, he says, caring for people matters more than winning as a shopkeeper.
Mandabok is now a Chinatown landmark, but Seo’s path wasn’t easy. During former President Park Chung-hee’s land reforms, his family lost the farmland his father tended because they were deemed foreigners. As a second-year middle school student, Seo started in restaurant kitchens and forged a lifelong connection with jjajangmyeon. By 21 he’d proven himself enough to open his first spot in Dangsan-dong, Seoul. Still, the grind of kitchen life made him question his future—he even pursued studies abroad on a national scholarship for a while, dreaming of a different life.
He returned to Incheon in 1999. After Korea and China normalized relations, Jung-gu launched a project to revive the then-stagnant Chinatown, and Seo joined as an unpaid planner, handling basic design work like stairs and road layouts. “I intended to stay three years, but I wanted to create a proper Chinese restaurant here, so I settled in,” he says. In 2007 he renovated a leaky old warehouse himself, redesigned the space, and opened Mandabok.
Seo’s commitment to giving started early in his restaurant career. After losing both parents in his thirties, he carried a deep sense of unfinished duty. Between 2007 and roughly 2012 he invited 30 seniors from local community centers each month and treated them to meals and drinks. “When I see the elderly, I think of my parents,” he says. “Serving them felt like a way to honor that feeling.”
His generosity also shows up in small, thoughtful gestures for families. Mandabok offers free jjajangmyeon or jjamppong-style rice dishes to children under five so couples dining out don’t have to stress over kids’ menus. On Parents’ Day, diners who show three photos taken with their parents get a complimentary plate of tangsuyuk (sweet-and-sour pork)—a surprise that’s become a beloved tradition. Seo says he hopes a single meal can help families feel warmth and connection.
“Looking back, I’ve been fortunate at every major crossroads,” he reflects. “I didn’t open Mandabok just to sell food—I wanted to share food culture and warmth. I’m simply doing as much giving as I can.”
/Kang Hyun-seo, trainee reporter tounou@incheonilbo.com
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