EBS Journey Through Korea, Finding Second Act Retirement Life in Mokpo, Buyeo, and Goseong from October 5 to 9

Journey Through Korea: Wise Retirement Life

It was a life lived as if constantly chased by survival. Survival always came before doing what one wanted to do.

Yet, in a corner of the heart, there was something that made the pulse race~!

We meet people who have chosen retirement for their own reasons and are finally living their true lives.

If you want to live with a racing heart during the second half of your life, just like them!

*Broadcast Schedule: October 5 (Mon) ~ October 9 (Fri) at 9:35 PM, EBS1

Part 1. Sailing to Oedaldo by Yacht – October 5 (Mon)

There is a man cruising the waters in front of his hometown, Mokpo, on a yacht; he is Kim Hui-beom, in his fifth year of retirement.

Having run relentlessly "Monday through Sunday" for 28 years at a global advertising agency, he always dreamed of a free retirement life. His theory is that since everyone will retire eventually, one must retire earlier than others to do what they love!

To do what he loves, he decided to retire at age 55 and bought a yacht to freely roam the sea. His friends contributed funds, saying, "A yacht isn't something you own; it's about having a friend with a yacht by your side!" The only condition was that they could be taken out anytime!

Having returned to his hometown like this, Mr. Kim is spending his second act cruising the sea freely while taking tourists on his yacht.

Today, friends who are facing retirement have gathered. The place they departed for by yacht is Oedaldo, an island 7km away from Mokpo!

A day with no one to worry about and nothing to rush for! Upon reaching the island, they pitch a tent and cast fishing lines. As large Japanese sea bass are caught one after another, they say they have nothing to envy in this world.

Let's weigh anchor together on the special yacht trip of Kim Hui-beom and his friends!

Part 2. The Kkokkio Couple's Special Animal Farm – October 6 (Tue)

In the wide fields of Buyeo, South Chungcheong Province, the last capital of Baekje, lies the chicken farm of the couple Choi Jeong-su and Kim Gun-ja.

What led the couple, who always dreamed of living in the countryside, to retirement was a single word from the husband's older sister: "Do you want to try raising chickens?"

Following those words, they moved down to Buyeo, the wife's hometown, nine years ago, but because they knew nothing about chickens, they faced many crises~

Every time, the husband, Mr. Jeong-su, traveled across the country to meet people running organic free-range farms and learned again and again. The answer he finally found was coexistence! A place that is good for me to live in is also a good place for the chickens to live!

By releasing the chickens onto clean grasslands and feeding them a self-mixed blend of 15 types of organic feed, the chickens became healthy and began laying healthy eggs.

Now, the couple has become the proper owners of an organic chicken farm. They make eye contact with about 2,000 chickens every day to feed them and grow organic chives to give them as snacks.

No matter how physically demanding it is, they say they won't delegate this work to anyone else~

As if sensing that heart, the chickens gather around whenever the husband, Mr. Jeong-su, appears.

As if repaying the couple's extraordinary love for chickens, the chickens lay about 900 eggs a day—they are golden eggs that cannot be exchanged for anything in the world.

Let's meet the pleasant retirement life of the Kkokkio couple at their happy chicken farm!

Part 3. I Became a Fisherman While Taking Photos – October 7 (Wed)

Daejin Port in Goseong County, the northernmost port on the East Coast. Lee Jin-su, who was born and raised here, returned to his hometown nine years ago upon retirement.

Having steadily completed 33 years of service as a civil servant, the reason he wanted to spend his second act in his hometown was none other than photography! Having become obsessed with photography learned during civil servant training, he even majored in photography late in life and wanted to live as a photographer after retirement.

While running a gallery in his hometown and starting his life as a photographer, a subject caught his eye: the Haenam (sea men) swimming in the sea.

The appearance of Haenam in Daejin Port, which previously only had Haenyeo (female divers), dates back to the 1960s. In those days, when only men who were good at catching fish were placed on deep-sea fishing vessels, the men who were pushed off those ships chose the diving work of the Haenyeo to feed their families.

Even though they entered the sea while being pointed at because they had to borrow Haenyeo wetsuits due to the lack of men's diving suits, Lee Jin-su thought the lives of the Haenam, who have endured in the sea, were worth recording.

The Haenam's workplace is in the middle of the sea, so one had to take a boat to photograph them. He began his work by hitching rides on the boats of the Haenam going out to sea, but the boats were cramped, and he felt sorry as it seemed to interfere with their diving. After much deliberation, two years ago, Mr. Jin-su bought a small octopus boat and, in the process, became a fisherman too~

He goes out to catch octopus every day from 5 AM to 9 AM, but his skills are those of a beginner! He tactfully looks for empty spots so as not to interfere with the professional fishermen.

Let's follow the heart-pounding day of Lee Jin-su, living as a photographer and a novice fisherman after retirement.

Part 4. The Brothers' Romantic Playground, Ogokdo – October 8 (Thu)

Brothers Lee Bong-su and Lee Don-su said that even while living as steady office workers, they headed out to the sea whenever they had a chance. The brothers, who were deeply immersed in the sea, rely on the sea in different ways after retirement.

The older brother, who retired first, Lee Bong-su, settled in his hometown, Happo, Changwon, and searched for the seas where Admiral Yi Sun-sin once cruised. Carrying old maps and the War Diary, he roamed every corner of the battle sites about 350 times, even hand-drawing a map of Yi Sun-sin's battle sites.

The younger brother, Lee Don-su, settled on the small island of Ogokdo in Tongyeong. He was completely captivated by the freedom of island life, where there is no one to worry about and nothing to be bound by.

A small island with a population of 10 and not even a single mart—but there is a sea market where you can catch fresh fish anytime with just a fishing rod, and you can grow almost any crop in the fertile vegetable garden, so there are no worries about making a living. Furthermore, since it possesses the world's best scenery, the older brother, Mr. Bong-su, heads to Ogokdo whenever he has the chance~

Visiting Ogokdo where his brother lives along with friends, the brothers slice pumpkins they grew themselves to make pancakes and grill gizzard shad on a traditional furnace. Adding the wild grapes they grew themselves makes for a hearty Ogokdo meal!

After filling their stomachs, the entire island becomes a playground for the men! Passing through paths where wildflowers bloom and entering a bamboo tunnel, they say even their fierce past days are forgotten~

Let's depart for Ogokdo, the romantic playground of the brothers!

Part 5. I Commute to the Forest – October 9 (Fri)

Susan-myeon, Jecheon, Chungcheongbuk-do—in a deep valley where mist rises from every ravine, there is a man who commutes to his own forest. The protagonist is Lee Seong-won, who has been tending the forest for five years this year!

Seong-won, who had never lived in the countryside and had no family members who farmed, had a long-held dream of creating a forest where nature breathes and people can rest!

To achieve his dream, during the first act of his life, he entered a large corporation that paid well. For 10 years, he fiercely saved most of his salary, and once he secured a large sum of money, he threw his resignation letter without hesitation. It was truly a planned retirement!

He traveled across the country looking for land that would become his forest, and finally found a barren wasteland without a single tree. In the second act of his life, his forest began like that.

By creating a small ecosystem while sticking to his own convictions without using pesticides or even herbicides, for five years, life has been finding its way into the once empty land one by one. Marsh frogs and salamanders lay eggs, and marsh snails and freshwater shrimp have made their home in the pond.

Let's head to the forest this man has cultivated stitch by stitch from barren land, where life has begun to dwell.

Translated from the Korean original with AI. The Korean article was itself written with AI assistance. Read the original (Korean)