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 Kim became South Korea's first senior fashion model last year,
realizing his lifelong dream with a charismatic debut at Seoul
Fashion Week.
"This was what I wanted to do when I was young, but gave up to
make money, and I thought maybe it's worth trying even now," Kim
told Reuters. "And I'm glad I did it - being a model is really
fun. Senior? It's just a label."
In a country with the world's fastest ageing population, many
elderly South Koreans like Kim are venturing into unconventional
late career opportunities.
Seniors have flocked to modeling schools on the back of Kim's
success. Others have become YouTube stars or signed up to teach
Korean to K-pop fans overseas.
The trend has offered fresh hopes to the elderly, many of whom
take low-paying, blue collar jobs to support themselves after
retiring. Almost half of South Korean baby boomers live in
poverty - the highest among members of the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
On a recent weekday afternoon, about two dozen people, mostly in
their late 50s to 60s, gathered at a welfare center in Songpa in
southeastern Seoul for weekly catwalk training, hoping to
emulate Kim, now an up-and-coming star in commercials and
fashion magazines.
For You Sung-lae, 59, her unfulfilled childhood dream of being
an actress and interest in fashion led her to sign up for the
course.
"Learning modeling feels like reviving my youth that I could not
enjoy because I got married and gave birth at a very young age,"
Yoo said, donning a cobalt blue jacket, orange stiletto heels
and designer sunglasses.
GROWING ELDERLY MARKET
Lim Sung-min, who represents Kim and is a former model himself,
said his agency is seeking to bolster its ranks of senior
models, aiming to cater to the fast-growing elderly industry.
While many senior citizens live in loneliness and poverty, baby
boomers also wield substantial buying power, bolstered by home
ownership, savings and social protection.
South Korea's seniors market has expanded about five-fold
between 2002 and 2010, according to the Korea Health Industry
Development Institute, and continues to grow fast.
Lotte, which operates South Korea's largest department store
chain, says department store sales for customers in their 60s
rose by 12% on average from 2013-18 compared with 2-5% increases
in overall revenues.
"Elderly customers have become big players, especially in the
fashion sector, as they spend more money for themselves after
focusing on their families for decades," a Lotte spokeswoman
said.
By 2050, there will be 71 people aged 65 and over for every 100
people aged 15-64 in South Korea, up from just 17.3 per 100 in
2014, the OECD forecasts. That will make it the third oldest
country in the world among wealthy nations, behind Japan and
Spain.
'TOO TALENTED TO STAY HOME'
Some firms and local governments are seeking to harness the
older generation's untapped potential and help them start a new
chapter of life.
Cho Yong-min was a public policy student at Princeton University
when he floated a small language exchange project between
retired South Korean professionals and foreigners in 2014.
He started recruiting elderly volunteers, linking them with
Korean major students at Princeton and Yale via Skype.
"They were too talented to play pool there every day, with so
much social and career experience to share," said Cho, 27, who
recently graduated from the school.
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The market proved much more promising than expected, attracting
students, Korean-Americans and a soaring global fan-base of K-pop
bands and singers.
In 2017, Cho turned the initiative into startup called SAY - or
Seniors and Youth - which now has more than 50 active instructors
and 500 paying students.
"It made me uncomfortable when I asked my friends how they spend
their day, they would be like 'What else can you do other than going
to the mountains?'" said Lee Kye-won, 69, a former trading firm
employee who has been working with Cho since 2014.
"Coaching is a difficult job because it requires you to have endless
energy, but I'm happy to be of a little help for other people beyond
the border."
'BEST TIME OF LIFE'
Tapping into an international community has also proved lucrative
for more traditional older workers.
In the small, mountain valley town of Yeongju, 66-year-old
blacksmith Seok Noh-ki was contemplating closing his struggling
workshop until his homi, a traditional Korean hand plow, began
selling like hot cakes on Amazon.com and eBay Inc late last year
following a promotional campaign on YouTube.
His handmade tool is now one of the top 10 gardening devices
globally on Amazon, garnering praise from farmers looking for solid
weeding instruments.
"When they said Amazon I thought they're talking about the
rainforest and river that I saw from TV," Seok said.
Sales of his tools have tripled and exports have soared, leading him
to take on more workers - some seniors like himself, and some
youngsters who might one day take over the business.
"Smith work is all I've done since I was 14, but now is the best
time of my life," Seok said.
Such cases are encouraging, experts say, but social protections
should also be improved to keep pace with the speed of ageing,
including sustainable policies to guarantee decent levels of income
for seniors.
"The country is ageing much faster than in any other OECD nations,
and if we don't figure out how to afford it, it would pose risks to
the future generations," said Lee Sam-sik, a professor of policy
science at Hanyang University in Seoul.
Ji Byung-soo, 77, had led a frugal life receiving government
subsidies that barely paid for his rent and cigarettes until he went
viral for belting out a female K-pop singer's up-tempo dance song in
March.
His performance of Son Dambi's "Crazy" on a televised singing
contest with awkward yet catchy moves fetched more than 2.7 million
views, landing him several commercial deals and his own popular
YouTube channel.
Ji said he is just proud to be able to help other lonely seniors and
donate to a welfare facility where he has been volunteering for
years.
At a youth festival in Seoul last month, he was all smiles despite
scorching heat and nonstop dancing as youngsters chanted his
nickname "Haldambi" - meaning Grandpa Dambi.
"Life begins at in your 70s," Ji said, wiping the sweat off his
wrinkled forehead. "Let's be happy and have fun."
(Reporting by Hyun Young Yi and Hyonhee Shin, Editing by Lincoln
Feast.)
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