Giving up privilege of living in Seoul

A couple days ago, I had dinner with friends who took a day off to meet me in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province. As we were eating at our favorite sushi place, one friend asked me, "How did you end up starting a publishing business in Tongyeong?" I had this question many times, so I told them my story. Then he asked me another question: "Did you recruit all of your employees from Tongyeong?" As I was explaining that one employee is a local while others come from Ulsan, Busan and Seoul, the one, who asked the question opened his eyes widely with shock, said, "They moved from Seoul to Tongyeong? Whoa, they must be pretty brave to come all the way here for a job."

One of the most common questions that people ask my company is how it recruits new employees in such a small city. When we give them our answer, they are all astonished. Frankly, when I was first recruiting new employees in Tongyeong, I was worried that most young people have moved to Seoul to get a job. I thought that I would not be able to hire competent people, only to realize that my concerns were premature. The first time when we tried to hire new workers, even though our company was completely unknown at the time, we received numerous applications from all over the country. The second time when we posted job openings, my company was better known, and we received dozens of applications only from Seoul. They were willing to come all the way to Tongyeong for an interview.

"Many friends left for big cities. I lived in Seoul, but if I have a chance, I want to work in my hometown Tongyeong and I am ready to dedicate myself making Tongyeong a better place to live," I quoted my interviewees. "I want to stay away from overheated competitions and traffic jams in Seoul and find a peace in mind. I want to invest my life to something more valuable than money."

Lots of people still think that if they leave Seoul, they lose some privileges and that leaving Seoul is same as becoming a loser. This kind of thoughts can be found in many TV drama shows and movies, which describe leaving Seoul as a result of demotion or a career failure. However, that mindset is changing now. Now that Seoul's population has reduced from 10 million, the change is spreading among people wider and faster. I want to tell people that such a change is the reason why a publisher in this remote area can get young workers easily and that is nothing surprising. Many businesses are based in Seoul, which is somewhat disadvantageous for other areas. However, not everybody thinks that such merits of living in big cities are so important.

Giving up the privilege of being a Seoul citizen and living somewhere else is not a foolish choice at all. There is a saying that when people lose something, they will gain something else. After all, it is about choosing different values and different life styles.

Written by Jeong Eun-yeong, who is operating a publishing company in Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province.