By Foong Pek Yee
13 Dec, 2021
THE kids were visibly excited as they made their way to the bookshelves one Autumn afternoon.
Todak Cafe – a book cafe- in Namwon, a small town in Jirisan, is no ordinary cafe.
The brainchild of a few people who fell in love with Jirisan, it is a favourite haunt for people of all age groups in the otherwise quiet small town.
The young love to read their favourite books and enjoy the food there.
It is also a waiting place for their parents to fetch them.
The cafe is also a venue for meetings, activities and, a collection and drop off point for courier services.
The founders including Kim Hyun-Suk are from Seoul but have lived in Namwon for some time.
And they brought along ideas to help the people evolve with changing times.
Visionary: Hyun – Suk on her plans for Namwon
Hyun-Suk says Jirisan, with the most beautiful mountains in South Korea, is the perfect place to be with nature
“San means mountains in Korean,” says Hyun-Suk when we met at the cafe in the Autumn of 2018.
Calming : Jirisan offers a slow-paced lifestyle amidst nature.
Fluent in English, she and her two kids left Seoul for the countryside many years ago.
She and her husband Cho Yang- Ho had wanted them to grow up among nature and have social contact with the community daily – something that can be rare in big cities.
Hyun-Suk and their children stay in Namwon while Yang-Ho who stays put in Seoul visits them on weekends.
Fast track to 2018, their 20-year -old-daughter and 17-year-old son were already in college and high school in Seoul.
But Hyun-Suk continues to stay in Namwon and run the cafe while Yang-Ho travels to be with her for the weekends.
Farming remains the major economic activity in Jirisan though businesses like homestay and tourism are thriving -thanks to the social media.
Fresh produce: Harvest time in Autumn.
Hyun-Suk says many city folk who relocated to Jirisan soon found out that not everyone is cut out for agriculture work.
After giving farming a try, they ventured into other jobs.
Meanwhile many youngsters from the countryside still flock to Seoul for its business and job opportunities.
Ha Jin- Yong who has been tasked by a non governmental organisation (NGO) to research on life among the younger generation in rural areas says the young still want to go to Seoul.
Serene: Mountains, stream and greenery a trademark of Jirisan.
At 25 (in 2018), Jin Yong who hails from Seoul says he fell in love with the rustic lifestyle after staying and working in Namwon for four years.
“City living can be lonely beneath all the hustle and bustle,” says Jin Yong
