[Koreaphile] Enjoying the perfect sunset at Heyri

Once in a great while, we can experience a sunset that not only brings to a close a wonderful day, but one that also shines a light on how we might spend our golden years. My family and I had just such an experience recently when we paid a visit to the Heyri Arts Village.

That Hyeri even exists is a testament to former President Kim Dae-jung`s dream of transforming inter-Korean relations from confrontation to peaceful coexistence and reconciliation. Nestled in a small valley less than an hour from Seoul but within sight of North Korea, the master plan for building in the formerly restricted military zone was approved in the heady months after the 2000 North-South Summit.

The main requirement for ownership in Heyri is simple: You must either be an artist or be willing to devote at least half of your home as a public space that celebrates the arts. Owners are also required to select from a list of approved architects, who are seemingly competing with one another to create the most interesting structure. Interestingly, the most famous artist living in the village is director Park Chan-wook, whose biggest film, the thriller "Joint Security Area," takes place just a short distance away in the Demilitarized Zone.

Named after a local farmer`s song, the village features more than 60 museums, galleries, bookstores, art shops, theaters, cafes and restaurants. Something is bound to tickle the fancy of even the most difficult family member. The Heyri website, www.heyri.net, really doesn`t do justice to the place in English or Korean, so the best thing to do is grab a readily available map and start wandering around. The only catch is that most places do charge an entrance fee.

For my wife, the highlight was clearly our dinner at the elegant "Plant Sense." After passing through a first floor gallery of paintings and sculptures from around the world, a stairway takes you to glass-enclosed dining room surrounded by lush vegetation, with jazz music wafting though the air. The setting sun cast a warm glow over the room as we enjoyed steak, seafood and pasta. The owner, Ma Suk-hyeon, goes out of his way to make sure each guest has an unforgettable experience.

My 6-year-old wanted to spend all of her time at a place that can best be described as two interactive play complexes called "I Like Strawberries" (inspired by the Korean animated character) and "I Don`t Want to Go Home." After climbing and bouncing though thematic areas filled with books and nooks for reading them, she played with a whole range of creatures, including a hedgehog, an iguana, frogs, toads, beetles and a rabbit. She especially liked parading around the room with an albino snake twice her height wrapped around her.

However, the inspiration for visiting this unique village was to meet one of my professors, Yonsei University`s Shin Myung-soon, who opened a museum focusing on my two favorite subjects, politics and stamps. When he opened the museum two years ago, he decided to call it "Agora," a place where people gathered in ancient Greece. However, unlike Daum`s Agora online discussion group, which only seems to attract Netizens trying to bring down the Lee Myung-bak government, Prof. Shin`s Agora represents all views on the political spectrum.

The items on display at Agora range from an armband worn by one of Chairman Mao`s Red Guards to a campaign pin declaring "I like Ike" (as in former U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower). Prof. Shin even managed to find one of the actual polling booths used in Florida for the 2000 presidential election. You can see for yourself just how confusing the "butterfly ballot" was and how difficult it was for election officials to count all of the votes. In fact, you can see ballots and ballot boxes from around the world. In the center of the room is a large display of Disney stamps in an effort to introduce children to the "hobby of kings."

The second floor brings Korea`s turbulent political past to life. Here you can read the hand-written declaration that Park Chung-hee penned on the morning of his 16 May 1961 military coup and the china used in his Blue House. You can see campaign posters dating back to the 1950s and the pins worn by National Assembly members. I didn`t know that one of presidential candidate Roh Tae-woo`s 1987 campaign pledges was for a "society without chaos."

Yet, despite all of these amazing displays, Prof. Shin confessed that most visitors do not come to see presidents or postage stamps. Rather, it is to admire the small corner of pressed flower artwork by his wife! Actually, when I learned several years ago that Prof. Shin was having his museum built and that his wife would run it while he was at school, I worried a bit that his collecting passion would not be hers. Instead, she used their move as an opportunity to develop her own artistic talents. Their living space looks out on a beautiful garden where his wife grows many of the flowers that she presses for use in everything from greeting cards to furniture.

A leading scholar on Korean elections, Prof. Shin will be forced to retire in three years, at which time he plans to devote himself to filling gaps in his collections and upgrading his displays. My wife and I both decided that we couldn`t think of a better way to enjoy our retirement years than to share our love of artifacts and artwork with others, while at the same time being able to learn from and be inspired by our neighbors.

My visit to Heyri took on new meaning with the death last week of Randy Pausch, an American virtual reality professor whose inspiring "Last Lecture" has been seen by millions over the Internet (available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo). H

aving been diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer just before his talk, Pausch revealed how we can achieve our dreams and help others at the same time. Heyri is a noble effort to do just that. Even if I am not able to live there, I plan to be a regular visitor.

Getting There: Bus #200 departs every 20-30 minutes from Hapjeong Station (Line 2).