[That person] "It was a benefit to me, their sacrifice." Born in 1993, who made a hotspot in an abandoned mine town

1. It Wasn't a Thing of Gold

He returned to his hometown of Jeongseon in the spring of 2017, when the heat of the presidential election following the impeachment of the president was hot.

He returned home after 5 years and 3 months after leaving his hometown when he entered a university in Daegu in 2012.

He was afraid to return to his hometown.

Most of all, I was afraid of the gaze of others.

When he was attending middle and high school in Jeongseon, he hardly missed the class president and president of the entire school, and in middle school he was a representative track and field athlete of Jeongseon-gun.

His mother was so proud of it, and the image of people who would gossip that she eventually failed and came down did not leave her mind.

It must have been dismissed as a failure of his parents and a failure of the family, rather than his own failure.

Still, he had no other choice but to return home.

When I graduated from college and got accepted as an intern at a civic group in Seoul, I was filled with hope.

He expected to be able to do something helpful to others, but that was far from what he had envisioned.

He felt that his existence was buried within the organization, the work he did was not enjoyable, and the pay was low.

"It was 1.2 million won before tax. After taking the house off, I got 1.13 million won. If I pay 230,000 won for the room, I have 900,000 won left. With that money, I eat and drink tea… I pay 100,000 won for a car... and it's over. When I found out, I had to pay 700,000 won a month. I can't do that."

When he left the civic group after a year and was wandering about what he could do, the only hope for this man was photography.

Since I first encountered photography when I was in middle school, my hobby has been to carry a camera around.

Photographer Min-jin Kang, whom I met at a reading group, encouraged me to say that you have a talent for photography and that you can't make money from photography.

To this person who wants to contribute to society by improving his professionalism with his favorite photography, Kang Min-jin taught photography skills as well as his attitude towards photography.

She said, "When Min-jin Kang asked me to look for a material that only you could take, she just thought of a coal mine. She said that I had never experienced it myself, but how about taking pictures of the scenery I saw and documenting it? ."

The bankbook balance ran out, and the feeling of failure that he could not come back with success tormented this person.

When he returned to his hometown, he wanted to be free from the gaze of a failed person, but there was no room to say that it was a golden return.

At the end of his three-month unemployment benefit period, he returned to his hometown.

"Of course, it's true that I came back after failing, but I'm more like I've come to find new opportunities. But if I get stuck in that frame, I just become a failure. So if you have something to give to adults, don't ask for greetings for nothing, even if young people in the area wander around in a rather scruffy way. They tell you that you will have the strength to put it on and work."

2. Opened 'Wild Flower Photo Studio'

My hometown, Jeongseon, was once a coal mining village where even the snow was black, but I did not grow up watching that.

Born in 1993, this person moved to his father's hometown, Jeongseon, when he was six years old.

This was after most of the coal mines were closed.

His father was not a miner, nor did any of his close relatives, relatives or acquaintances have miners.

There are more memories related to Kangwon Land, which was officially opened in 2000, than the memories of the coal mine.

With money from Kangwon Land, I received food, tuition, and scholarships, and even went on overseas trips when I was in high school.

However, the miner, the coal mine, was not unfamiliar to this man, and he instinctively knew that his roots were there.

He rode an old, rusty car to take pictures of the coal mine records, driving around the abandoned mine areas of Gohan and Sabuk.

It was then that I learned the history of my hometown anew.

“I started studying the local history again, and through that process, I was in awe of the local adults. What kind of process Kangwon Land was created through, why the company should contribute to society, and the benefits we received when we were growing up. I came to know that it was not a one-sided donation but the result of the efforts and sacrifices of the adults in this neighborhood. But no one told me this. I came to know about it while studying in my hometown, but how many people know about this history and structure? Thinking like this, I think I had a bigger idea of ​​what I should do to record the abandoned mines in photos.”

This man, who travels around Jeongseon while earning pocket money as a courier part-timer and wants to take photos of his hometown, has been proposing what would happen if his neighborhood 'uncles' opened a photo studio in Gohan-eup in 2018.

At that time, the village revival movement was in full swing in Gohan-eup.

When the mining economy was good, the area around Sabuk and Gohan in Jeongseon, Gangwon-do was so good that there was a saying that dogs carried banknotes around.

By the time it was promoted to a township in 1985, the population of Gohan-eup reached 40,000.

However, after all the coal mines were closed in 2001, people left like the low tide, leaving empty houses everywhere.

Around 18 avenue, Gohan-eup, where the entrance to Gohan Market was located, there were about 20 vacant houses without owners.

As the empty house turned into a derelict house and became an abomination, Kim Jin-yong and Yoo Young-ja and other residents launched a campaign to revive the village in October 2017.

He bought an abandoned house and opened 'Sky Planning', 'Ieum Platform', and a film studio 'Nun'.

The people who led this movement were watching this person and recommended that he apply for the opening of a photo studio in the program to save empty houses in the abandoned mine area.

“I thought that my ankles were tied rather than good… I was thinking of staying quiet and saving money and going back to Seoul, but my ankles are tied. My friends go out to play and travel a lot, and at times like that, I thought that I couldn’t do that anymore. It was a big thing that I couldn’t go back to Seoul anymore. I was going to go to Seoul again…”

Gangwon-do was carrying out a project to provide an unprecedented 200 million won to those who use empty or abandoned houses to run a business in the abandoned mine areas of Jeongseon, Taebaek, Yeongwol, and Samcheok.

After screening, if they were eligible for support, they applied for this project, which received a total of 200 million won, including 100 million won in the first year and 50 million won in the second and third years, and was finally selected as the target of support.

“I thought that there were more subsidies than other places, but I think the burden was definitely greater than my joy. After I was shaken up, I thought that my bottom would soon be revealed. I thought about what I would do if I couldn't meet the requirements."

On March 8, 2019, <Wild Flower Photo Studio> opened at the closed supermarket on 18th Street, Gohan-eup.

I opened the door to the photo studio, but it was actually dark before my eyes.

What I do as a hobby and what I do to make money are completely different.

It is true that he liked photography and learned photography techniques in his spare time, but he did not study photography professionally.

There was a lot of pressure to take pictures for money rather than taking pictures to post on social media.

I didn't even know how to use the lights.

I set the timer by myself, moved the lights, and took pictures of myself and the plaster statue hundreds of times, learning my senses.

On the day it opened, I passed the opening cake to my neighbors and ran into the photo studio when I met the first customer.

When a guest came in without any preparation, he was distracted.

He took an ID photo once, but when he saw the printed photo, he couldn't get the money.

The curtains were not closed in embarrassment, and the lighting was a mess.

He apologized to the customer and said he would not take any money, but he was the first customer, so he gave 10,000 won to the customer.

I still keep the photo of the grateful first guest.

I took it off after about a month of taking the ID photo, but after that, my hands started sweating when only guests came for a long time.

“I think I gained some leeway in the third year of my business. Until then, when guests come, my hands are constantly sweating. I get nervous and think about what to do when I hear the door open. When I told Boone about it, it was a serious deal. I was so nervous that I had to take a break.”

He did not neglect his efforts to keep up with the latest trends and re-learned the theory and practice of photography while attending a specialized academy in Seoul.

As rumors began to spread that he was good at taking pictures, the Wildflower Photo Studio became a popular spot among those who knew him.

It was often featured in the press, and there are people lining up to take pictures here.

It is only open for three days on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and only accepts reservations.

Only ten teams take reservations per month, and reservations close before the 10th of each month.

They said that the quality of the photos deteriorates when there are many guests.

He also intends to have time to immerse himself in his work as a writer.

"CEO Hye-jin Lee cleverly utilized the policies laid out by Gangwon-do. My friend also cried a lot at night with the lights off because the business didn't work in the early days. Were you not afraid? There is no business… I do my own business, but if I don’t do business, I can’t sleep at night. I overcame that well. I created a model to make money on my own, and now it’s established. Now I’m a role model for others.”

Jinyong Kim / Executive Director of 18th Street Cooperative Association, Village Hotel, Gohan-eup

Monthly sales are around 5-6 million won, and annual sales exceed 60 million won.

He said that this was not enough to live on his own.

The balance is accumulating in the bankbook, but I bought a mid-size SUV a while ago.

The target for sales this year is 100 million won.

I am thinking about how to achieve this goal, and for this purpose, I am thinking of an online business and a business using NFT.

3. Provincial, youth - the socially underprivileged?

In this era, the provincial and youth are synonymous with the socially underprivileged, and this person has both conditions.

All of these weaknesses were turned into strengths.

Because I live in a rural area, I was able to receive an unprecedented 200 million won in start-up support.

Since all the coal mines in Jeongseon, Taebaek, Yeongwol, and Samcheok were closed in 2001, the central government and Gangwon Province have poured more than 3 trillion won to revive the region.

If you add SOC investment, such as the extension of National Road 38, it will exceed 10 trillion won.

However, many people left and few returned.

This year, there were only eight new students at the two elementary schools in Gohan-eup, and the middle school they graduated from has already closed.

People left and the number of vacant houses increased.

It is in this context that Gangwon-do's policy to regenerate empty houses in abandoned mine areas, which pays an unprecedented 200 million won in subsidies.

"The purpose of this project is to revive the village by remodeling abandoned and vacant houses. If selected, 200 million won over three years is given, but there is no other project like this in Korea. But the town is all empty. The population of Gohan-eup was 10,000 in 1995, and while trillions of won were invested, the population was halved. When critics came out saying, 'What have you guys been doing all this time, Gangwon-do came up with that policy. will."

Jinyong Kim / Executive Director of 18th Street Cooperative Association, Village Hotel, Gohan-eup

This person is the biggest beneficiary of the policy.

People from other regions can also apply, but it is also true that it was advantageous to have a connection in this region.

Being young was also a factor.

This person is well aware that there are critical views of unconventional support.

“After receiving the application, I thought that there would be people criticizing it because it was such a huge amount. Anyway, there were customers who said, ‘Aren’t you making money with our taxes anyway? But it's true that I worked hard not to listen to that kind of thing."

In the countryside, youth is a force in its very existence.

In Jeongseon, this person is loved just for being.

There are many people from all over the world, and there are 'uncles' and 'aunts' who are willing to help.

When in Seoul, this person was discriminated against and oppressed.

He was accused of doing things for which he was not responsible and even doing things that were not his own.

He said he still regrets not being able to protest despite being treated so unfairly.

He remembered the first time he received an offer from his 'uncles' to work together here.

“When I got the offer of starting a photo studio, the first thing that came to my mind was that I might be being used as a young man again. Because I felt that way a lot when I was in a civic group. I may not have done it, but I felt that way a lot, so maybe it's the same in the local area, because they were adults of the same age."

In a neighborhood where the average age of the residents is 48, he stands out just because he is young.

The only young man in his twenties in the town, he never left out whenever the town was featured in the press.

Now, it is serving as the face of 18th Avenue in Gohan-eup.

“If I had been married and a little older, I probably wouldn’t have raised me in the local area to this extent, and since I’m a young man anyway, I think that I’m giving support after seeing my potential. I get that feeling a lot when you put on a bad face or tell me that you are doing well.”

In Seoul, where you and you are completely separated, this person who has been hurt a lot was warmly embraced by the elders of his hometown.

Worrying that adults might be using me was false.

"It was really good to feel that one of my sides was formed. The most peculiar thing when I was in Seoul was that the people in Seoul were so cold. When I saw my friends who work hard, I thought that they hated me, so it was difficult and unfamiliar to make my side. But you know what the style is in the region. The grown-ups consider the part where I work hard and are just by my side. I think that was really good.”

A lot was good, but not everything was good.

The community culture, where the distinction between you and me is unclear and seldom acknowledges personal space, was at times embarrassing and shocking.

I thought, 'I drank too much city water.'

Generational differences lead to cultural differences.

There are also differences in how we deal with memories of the past.

This person passionately tries to record the memories of the past, but most of the grown-ups say, "Why do you want to record something that is neither a good story nor a beautiful landscape?"

For them, looking back, it is a painful and sad history.

Such differences do not immediately lead to major conflicts, but the way we remember the past can lead to differences in our outlook for the future.

What a young woman faces in an area where there are few similar peers can be guessed to some extent.

He also practiced on his own how to respond to gender discrimination and sexual harassment remarks in everyday life.

“I practiced what to say when I heard such a word. If I don’t practice in advance, the words won’t come out. I once expressed my anger after hearing sexual harassment remarks, but a woman stopped me. So I thought there was no need for that. They have already lived like that, and because they are people who have lived in an era when their son was the best and the man was the best, I had an experience in the beginning that I would be the only strange person if I got angry."

This man's success is noteworthy in that it coincided with the success of the village.

The story of this village, which was selected as an exemplary case of “happy collaboration of local regeneration and urban regeneration supported by the public, supported by the villagers, led by young startups, and supported by intermediate support organizations,” was described in the media as

. expressed

This person also actively participated in village affairs and tried to melt into the village.

As a secretary of the town development committee, he was not shy about running small errands, and he also took the position of audit for the village cooperative.

Gohan 18-ga, Gohan-eup, Jeongseon-gun, where this photo studio is located, has become a hot place visited by more than 100,000 people every year.

Last year, when the corona virus was in full swing, more than 100 tour groups from all over the country went to learn about this village.

I hear sometimes that it won't work if I go to another place to work, but this person knows well that a wild flower photo studio cannot exist without it here.

Shortly after opening <Wild Flower Photo Studio>, they took full-body portraits of the villagers.

She didn't like a few people, so she told them to take them back.

When she went to retrieve the picture, she found that the 'work' she had put so much effort into was buried in a warehouse.

She felt that as a photographer she had no proper experience and that he was being humiliated like this.

So she was going to graduate school.

Not long ago, she pasted a large 11x12 meter wide photo like a mural on the exterior wall of the former Sabuk Elementary School teacher.

The elementary school building will be demolished soon and an apartment will be built on the site. Local artists have launched the 'Goodbye, Sabuk Elementary School' project, and this person also participated.

It was a project she risked her pride as a photographer.

“The local residents said that the photos are great, and I am very happy that I actually succeeded in such a large-scale project, so I would rather show this through my work to relieve the source of my sense of competence. It came up a lot, and I was very satisfied that I could do this kind of work. If I show a good work like this, people can look at me without prejudice, so I decided to erase my mind of going to graduate school."

4. Body in Jeongseon, eyes in Seoul

Maybe it was because I was told that I went to the police administration department at university and wanted to become a police officer, and I had the impression that it would be good to appear as a model on a police officer recruitment poster.

The villagers must have wondered how long or how long this young man with an urban feel will stay in this town.

This person must have asked himself countless times how long I could live here.

“When I first opened the studio, I thought a lot about whether I could last 3 years. But after 3 years, I think I can do it for 10 years now. "

That she would take root in her hometown, she didn't promise to win here in my life.

She may someday move to a place where she can breathe more comfortably, but she's been here for over three years anyway.

The old coal mining area is not a comfortable place for young people to breathe.

Whenever I go to Seoul or a nearby city, I often think about what I am doing there.

I wonder if this person's existence is consumed in these words of local movement and local regeneration.

It is a place with few peers, and it is difficult to find spaces or facilities for hobbies.

At night, I watch a movie alone and drink alcohol.

There are very few stories of her friends and family on this guy Facebook.

Little things like the little happiness that a young woman can enjoy with her friends are hardly noticeable.

There are records of sincere labor and struggles for life, but there is not much to read about leisure and romance.

He said he was happy, but those words didn't sound like words coming from deep inside his stomach.

I go on a long vacation once a year.

I went there in January of this year.

go somewhere alone

I seem to be saying that I need a place to breathe and a time to breathe.

"Honestly, it's really frustrating. Adults say that I'm adjusting well, but it's stuffy here, so I love cars. I like time in the car, I like long trips... It's not easy living here. It's not very rural. It's so frustrating."

“When I go to Seoul to see exhibitions, attend meetings, or go to forums on weekends or on days off, I keep maintaining a connection with Seoul. Then I feel at ease and I work hard for another week.”

I was not born in Seoul, nor did I go to school.

I lived in Seoul for only 1 year and 3 months, and it was a time when I cried more than I laughed.

Seoul was the place where I had no job, no money, and no hope.

Those were the days when I was trembling with loneliness in the narrowest room on the highest floor of a gosiwon, with a pillar stuck in the middle of the room.

Someone used to leave a bag of cookies in front of this person's door every day.

Sweets were placed in front of the door until the day he returned home.

Whether it was love or compassion, it must have been the good intentions of a person who had a fond heart for this person, but it was a time when he was living harshly without even having time to find out who had such a heart.

Wherever he lived, he would be remembered with disillusionment and shame, but nevertheless, this person longs for Seoul and lives with a keen sense of touch towards Seoul.

If you don't get some free air from the city, you're going to suffocate.

Being here in the countryside, I felt impatient that I might fall behind, and this person does not deny that fact.

“I go to Seoul every weekend. These days, I want to follow the trends of my age. Even though I’m in the village, I try my best not to be left behind. That’s what I was afraid of when I first came to the countryside. That’s also the part I was most worried about when I was in. My friends in Seoul are in an environment where they can read trends just by standing still, but if I sit still, I will be slaughtered. I have a lot of worries. I try not to miss the current trends and the worries my peers have, and I like to follow them.”

"It's intense, but it's a new place every day. When I talk like this, adults say they do it because they are young, but I think there's a sense of frustration in repeating these daily routines. I've always dreamed of traveling with a camera since I was a child. I had a great fear of being tied down with the fear of being tied down, and at that time, I thought, 'I can't do anything in Seoul with this ability right now, so let's start here after taking 5-6 years of practice and consolidation.'

"I've been thinking about that too. It's not clear whether that's a complex or the fear of being eliminated is a complex in itself, but I think it's close to the fear of being eliminated. Taking root in Seoul is on the side of liberation..."

“I gave up on that and I can’t be in the field that much, so I think I’m always thinking about what kind of effort I have to put in to keep up with that.”

5. The region is the hope, the region is the strength

He said he would live here as his base.

Now you know that this is hope and strength.

This person is clever in that he intends to use his power to the full.

He said he wanted to live here as a springboard, but it was also different from saying that he would take root and live in this neighborhood.

"I'm honestly worried about the photo studio, too. It's honestly a waste to close this, so if I have a friend I like, I would leave it to him and I hope I can focus more on photography."

About 40% of the wild flower photo studio's sales come from winning orders for public institutions in Gangwon-do.

They do not know that if the wild flower photo studio is located in a place other than Jeongseon, it cannot have the same profit structure as it is now.

Depending on what you hear, this person who uses the region as a foothold but does not want to be tied to the region may be heard as saying that he will only take care of what is good for him and what he is comfortable with, but he spoke confidently without hesitation.

I am interested in local movements, but I do not feel like I am at the center.

He wants to become an expert and help the area, but that's something to think about later, quite a bit later.

Even then, I don't want to be the center.

They want to find their identity as a photographer, not a local activist.

“I can’t say that I’m not a local activist because what I’m expressing as an artist is a local story and a view of the region. I'm thinking."

Many people envy the case of this person, and there are many young people who are thinking about whether to live like this person.

However, there are still no people who have decided to live like this person.

He said that there were a few young people who were 'seeing the liver' by going back and forth from time to time in this area.

I can't confidently say that this person also wants to live like me and that there is hope here.

Because he knows better than anyone how difficult it is to live like this, how lonely it is, and there are not many things to give up on.

"I tend to say more 'If you're going to do it, come prepared'. It's true in my heart. If you're going to come into the area, they tell you to prepare for a proper relationship and come in. Some young people only ask the local adults. I'm a young man, so why don't you do this? If you do it that way, even adults know it.

In the local area, you have to give more than what you receive from adults, and you're used to the pongjjak culture. They say that if you lose, you can live comfortably.”

He said that he wanted to be someone else's hill just as the people in his hometown became a beevil hill to him.

I want to do my best for the next generation of young people.

I thought he might be a simple young man set in the countryside, as the word “wild flower photo studio” gives, but when I met him, he was a young man with unusual ambitions.

He seemed to be encouraged by the success he had achieved so far.

I never said, 'I'm just starting out' or that there is no limit to finding someone who has had more success than me.

"I'm very happy just that I'm in a position where I can tell other people's stories. Still, I'm still 29. I don't think I'll be over forty even if I try more in the future. It was a fight, but looking around, there are not many people who have settled down like that, so I think it was a good idea to open a photo studio early in the area.”

It was the face of a person who genuinely wanted to be happy and proud of his achievements, and that expression seemed beautiful to look at.

He is now only twenty-nine years old, and he has a long way to go.

I thought I was lucky that this person didn't have a simple dream.

Hoping to have dreams and ambitions much bigger than he is now, he finally asked this guy if he could take a picture with him.

In the future, you might be able to boast that you shared a moment with this person in their 20s, who is expected to be 20 years later.

※ The full video of the interview with Hyejin Lee will be released for the first time on the SBS News YouTube channel at 9pm on the 26th.