Im Chae-moo explains why he removed Doori Land’s entrance fee after one week

Actor Im Chae-moo says a father counting coins outside Doori Land changed the way he ran the children’s theme park.

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The children kept crying, and when I thought about how the father must have felt turning back because he did not have 8,000 won, I felt that something was wrong.

On tvN’s “You Quiz on the Block,” Im recalled seeing two children, apparently between five and seven years old, cling to their father’s legs and ask to go inside. The entrance fee was 2,000 won per person, so the family of four needed 8,000 won.

Im said the father looked at his wife, lowered his head and counted paper money and a few coins. “The children kept crying, and when I thought about how the father must have felt turning back because he did not have 8,000 won, I felt that something was wrong,” he said.

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Get rid of the ticket booth tomorrow.

He decided to remove the ticket booth immediately. “I called and said, ‘Get rid of the ticket booth tomorrow,’” Im recalled, adding that the booth was demolished with an excavator. “We charged 2,000 won for exactly one week, and from then on it was free,” he said.

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We charged 2,000 won for exactly one week, and from then on it was free.

Im opened Doori Land in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, in 1990 with his own money and has continued operating it for 37 years, according to the description. He has described once carrying debt of 19 billion won and later reducing it below 10 billion won. “I liked seeing children smile and run around,” he said. “I cannot give up because of the children’s laughter.”

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I liked seeing children smile and run around. I cannot give up because of the children’s laughter.