JEJU-DO < invest Korea

An island is cut off from the world. It does not allow you to leave when you want and thus forces you to face unexpected inconveniences at times. Is that kind of place capable of positively influencing people who need to imagine and create something new? “Yes,” immediately said author Lee dong-woo who is now a content creator via various channels after debuting as a webtoon artist. What he experienced in Jeju island helped explain why.

“After graduating from an arts high school, I got into an art college to study design. And then, I went to military service, where I spent a lot of time reading books and became fascinated with creating stories. Until then, I only focused on drawing, but later I found it more interesting to illustrate the story I made. This is how I came to study cartoons after the military service.”

His mother was a painter. So, from an early age, he vaguely thought that he would be working on creative work, but never thought that it would be a webtoon.
“I applied to many art contests to debut, but failed a lot. At that time, I was fretful as being desperate for a high reputation and money by making a ‘hit webtoon’ just like famous webtoon artists. So, I set a goal to debut at a powerful platform and struggled to achieve it.”

After studying popular webtoons and genre preferences among readers, he released a detective series “Detective GAEBBOOL” on Kakao page. And the webtoon series was able to capture attention as the detective genre was in high demand, few contentswere providing it. While his first webtoon was being released, he was also planning his second one with such a busy schedule that he didn’t even realize how time flew.

But, less than a half year after publishing his first series, fear and anxiety swept over him when he made a contract for his second webtoon series. The fact that 40 episodes of the series were contracted was extremely suffocating for him.
“I wonder if it would have been better if the exact number of episodes wasn’t specified in the contract. At that time, I was choked by the fear of ‘how am I going to draw all 40 episodes?’ As the goal to be done was clearly stated, I felt a lot of pressure.”
He was finally diagnosed with panic disorder. When the mind collapsed, the body had no choice but to suffer. The goal of achieving fame as an author and financial rewards became a burden, making everything challenging for him.

In the summer of 2020, he visited Jeju Island with friends, and everything came across as fresh and new. He vaguely thought, “it would be great to work in a place like this.” In the winter of that year, he was asked to give a lecture about webtoon. As the lecture was a 5 weeks-long course, he had no choice but to live in Jeju for over a month. By the end of the lecture, his stay in Jeju had been extended to three months and then to one year.

“December 2020 was the starting point for my life in Jeju Island. Things were not easy at first.” But just like you like someone for no reason, Lee Dong-woo found no reason to leave the Island.
“I did a lot of meditation, relaxing, running, and walking so hard that I hurt my ankle. But I never missed the joy of going out to the sea near my house and grilling meat on a small fire pit, while of course, working hard.”

During the one year in Jeju Island, he wrote a book and gave lectures many times. It was so much fun for him to meet locals and share with them how to plan and make stories.
“Certainly, many people here are relaxed. The pace of life is different. In Jeju, even delivery motorcycle riders concede to go first at intersections.”
The slow pace of life, a unique atmosphere, and the sense of stability of an isolated space were a healing power for him.

“If I had stayed in Seoul, I would have been very bad-tempered and tried very hard to get the goal by any means, struggling to walk a very narrow path to success. If I had not come to Jeju, much of my life would have been different from now.”

Author Lee dong-woo discovered plenty of potential from Jeju

Author Lee dong-woo, who describes life in Jeju as a period of “Fulfilling his inner soul,” sees plenty of potential in what content the Jeju Island has. In particular, he said that what he found attractive was the stories created by aspiring authors born on the island who were motivated by Jeju’s environment and myths. But it is quite unfortunate that they are not actively communicating enough. Because he expects that, if they have an active community to inspire each other, more contents would be created, capturing attention nationwide beyond the island. Saying, “it is marvelous that there are still many gods in Jeju,” Lee dong-woo is hoping for a platform that can activate such an aspect of the island.

“I plan to stay in Jeju until 2022. After having a break throughout the spring, and then I’d like to create YouTube videos on Jeju 4·3 Uprising and Massacre, which is still an ongoing story and an essential part of the history of Jeju. Of course, I have to study a lot.”
For an author who knows how to maintain pace with his own rhythm and tempo, Jeju Island would be the greatest place for creative work, says author Lee dong-woo. He said that he, too, was energized to take a plunge into a new genre. This is thanks to a more relaxed and long-term perspective. “Jeju Island is a place of healing, recovery, and inspiration for authors. If you feel burnt out by creating something, I want you to think of Jeju.”