(도전론) THE THEORY OF CHALLENGE
176화. 도전론
인간은 태 나오는 순간부터 주검까지 도전의 연속이다.
내가 않아도 남이 건다.
이 중요한 도전에 이론 하나 없다.
인류사 무한이구만.
해서 도전론.
인류 최초일 터.
생애 도전의 연속이었기에
최상위 혁명까지 하고 있기에
그 원리를 추출한다.
원리를 알고 도전과 모르고 도전은 천양지차.
책 출산혁명의 실천 철학으로서 별도의 책으로도 손색 없다.
이제 도전은 당신 손아귀에 쥐어진다.
세상은 여전히 넓고 쓸 건 많다.
도전론 자체가 도전이다.
도전론 176화 이것으로 맺는다.
THE THEORY OF CHALLENGE
I challenge, therefore I am.
It is the practical philosophy of the book.
The Birth Revolution is the culmination of a lifetime of challenge.
■ Preface
Challenge is a journey to freedom.
Through a life of challenge, I have finally become a free spirit.
The world is a wonderful laboratory.
I have experimented with my own life.
I am both the subject and the object of the experiment.
Even today, I embark on new experiments—so the experimentation never ends.
Challenge is experiment.
There are principles to challenge.
The Theory of Challenge is a theory that defines the practical principles and methods of challenge itself, developed by a human being who proved his existence through a lifetime of challenges.
The theory of challenge itself is a challenge—perhaps the first of its kind in the world.
■ Table of Contents
1. Meaning of Challenge
2. Purpose and Goal of Challenge
1. Purpose seeks value; goal seeks reality.
2. Purpose determines quality; goals determine quantity.
3. Purpose is direction; goal is a destination.
4. Purpose is about "why"; goal is about "how much."
5. Purpose is meaning; goal is an action.
6. Goal is a means to reach purpose.
3. Objects and Methods of Challenge
4. Origin and Essence of Challenge
5. Soil of Challenge
6. Scales of Challenge
7. Strategy for Challenge
8. Tools of Challenge
1. Creativity, reverse thinking, paradigm shift
2. IPS
3. Desperation
9. Timing of Challenge
10. Obstacles of Challenge
11. Resistance to Challenge
12. Price of Challenge
13. Preparation for Challenge
1. Mindset
2. Preparation period
3. Final checklist before challenge
4. Validity period of challenge
14. Seven Steps of Challenge
15. Life of Challenge
1. Long-term direction and scope of challenge
2. Life of challenge
3. A few aphorisms
16. All Challenges for Happiness
1. Meaning of challenge
1. Meaning of challenge
To me, challenge is to test my limits—
not just the upper limits, but the lower ones too.
To me, challenge is the act of experiment—
with a new solution.
For me, challenge is life itself—
like the air I breathe.
I'm a challengeholic, not a workaholic.
2. Reasons for challenge
□ A challenge is newness.
And newness is euphoria.
While challenging, dopamine floods the brain,
and every cell in the body tenses up.
It’s highly addictive.
I tasted it through childhood mischief—and never looked back.
□ Every challenge is a step toward freedom.
It breaks the shackles of what binds me.
Through a lifetime of challenges, I finally became a free man in old age.
I didn’t realize before—every challenge was a road to freedom.
□ Liberal democracy
What can’t be done?
Even if the world is vast, it's still small enough for me to hold in one handful.
Even if the world is small, it's still wide enough for me to run free.
Play big!
Life comes only once.
2. Purpose and Goal of Challenge
Purpose stands above goal.
1. Purpose seeks value; goal seeks reality.
Purpose:
Self: happiness, meaning, fulfillment...
Contribution: family, society, nation, humanity...
Goal:
Wealth, power, fame...
When people grow old and still feel empty despite achieving their goals, it’s because they lived without purpose.
And when they reach death full of regret, it’s because they pursued goals but forgot their purpose.
2. Purpose determines quality; goals determine quantity.
Purpose shapes the quality of a person; goals shape the quantity of their work.
Purpose defines the depth of one’s character; goals define the extent of one’s ability.
3. Purpose is direction; goal is a destination.
Purpose is like the North Star—without it, we lose our way.
We may even walk backward—it can turn into a weapon and end up hurting oneself.
A goal is like a mountain—it can only be climbed if we choose to climb.
4. Purpose is about "why"; goal is about "how much."
Success and Fulfillment.
Success and fulfillment may seem similar, but they are fundamentally different.
Success chases tangible results like wealth, power, and fame,
while fulfillment pursues invisible values such as happiness, meaning, and purity.
Success is the result of competition with others, and it demands sacrifice.
The greater the success, the greater the sacrifice that follows.
Fulfillment, on the other hand, comes from overcoming one’s own limitations—and requires no sacrifice from others.
The greater the fulfillment, the more it benefits the world.
Success is driven by goals, while fulfillment is guided by purpose.
Thus, success is driven by the pressure of "How much?"—a numerical chase—whereas fulfillment allows the space to pursue the question "Why?"
At times, in the process of overcoming great adversity, one revisits the question “Why?”—and in doing so, reaches fulfillment.
Success often invites trouble, driven by the greed for even greater success—whereas fulfillment brings peace of mind—the greater the desire, the deeper the satisfaction.
After the age of sixty, as one draws closer to death, the most successful person is the one who has fulfilled themselves.
And the most fulfilled person is the one who lets go—not only of success, but ultimately, of the self.
Those who merely succeed are left with bucket lists and regrets, but those who reach fulfillment carry neither.
Those who achieve great success make their name known in their time, while those who reach great fulfillment leave a lasting legacy.
Therefore, once one achieves success, it becomes necessary to think not just of goals, but of purpose.
And this has nothing to do with age.
5. Purpose is meaning; goal is an action.
We discover a purpose, but we set a goal.
6. Goal is a means to reach purpose.
Most people tend to overlook this—
missing the essence, the bigger picture itself.
Therefore,
When setting a goal, one needs to find their purpose.
ㅡㅡㅡ
When I was young, my purpose was the happiness of my family.
That was my happiness.
I sought meaning in every job under the duty of providing for them.
Now, in retirement, my purpose is shared happiness.
That is my happiness.
Freed from the obligation of provision, I now pursue values.
3. Objects and Methods of Challenge
1. Choose
Everything established can be challenged.
The present can always be challenged.
Challenge is predicting the future and changing the present.
The more one challenges, the fewer failures remain.
2. Seek the essence
Every phenomenon has its essence.
While the world chases appearances, those who change it seek the essence.
It starts slow, but soon gains speed.
It deepens and expands.
As it accumulates, insight emerges.
And then, the world becomes visible.
4. Origin and Essence of Challenge
1. Origin
It begins with curiosity.
“Why?’ The cause.
“What will happen?” The result.
Because of curiosity, humanity dares to risk danger.
Even in adult, the drive persists.
It grows even stronger.
2. Essence
At its core, challenge is play.
It’s for fun.
The greater the risk, the greater the thrill.
Childhood mischief is the root—and it becomes an addiction.
Challenge is not taught to adults through mental training.
It is learned through playful practice from childhood.
It lasts a lifetime.
In other words, a person of challenge is made in childhood.
5. Soil of Challenge
Love, trust, and non-interference.
Challenge grows in the soil of three essentials:
Unconditional love that accepts failure without judgment.
Deep trust in one’s potential.
Non-interference that respects personal choice and space.
These three provide the fertile ground where challenge can thrive— and freedom is born as its fruit.
6. Scales of Challenge
Improvement, innovation, and revolution.
My greatest challenge is The Birth Revolution today.
Among a hundred improvements, only one innovation arises.
Humanities revolution occurs only once in a lifetime—or not at all.
7. Strategy for Challenge
Differentiation.
What makes me different?
This is my highest priority in every challenge.
ㅡㅡㅡ
In business, the novice talks about his own cost.
The competent emphasizes the other party’s profit.
The master wins the other’s heart.
In any negotiation, when someone flatly refuses to sell, or says, “Just take it for free,” that usually means there’s truly no margins left. In such cases, offering a little more is the right move.
The best merchants sell a lot at high prices.
Next best: sell a lot at low prices.
Then: sell moderately at reasonable prices, or sell small amounts at high prices.
The real problem is selling little at low prices.
That means a radical transformation is needed—
or it’s time to consider leaving the business.
To make real money, you must either sell a lot at high prices
or sell a lot at low prices.
Selling moderately at moderate prices may keep you afloat,
but eventually, competition will wear you down.
Usually, it’s differentiation that makes the difference.
So before trying to sell, ask, “What makes me different?”
The fiercer the competition, the more crucial the differentiation.
The ultimate differentiation is novelty,
and its starting point is creativity
The optional differentiation is uniqueness,
and its begins with reverse thinking.
The viable differentiation is freshness,
and its begins with paradigm shifts.
Creativity springs from bold—or even absurd—imagination.
Reverse thinking and paradigm shifts both grow from PMA—Positive Mental Attitude.
From a market-dominant perspective,
the ultimate differentiation is monopoly.
8. Tools of Challenge
1. Creativity, reverse thinking, paradigm shifts
Challenge is newness, and newness is created by these three tools.
From the perspective of the Philosophy of the Circle:
Creativity is creating a new pole and connecting it to the existing one.
Reverse thinking is flipping the existing pole to connect it to its opposite.
Paradigm shift is transforming the existing pole to connect it to its opposite.
Without them, the circle vanishes.
With them, it comes alive again—and rolls forward as a new circle.
2. IPS
The Impossible Possible Secret (IPS)
A Three-Step Formula for Success: Turning the Impossible into the Possible
1. First, conclude that it is possible.
2. Second, find every way to make it happen.
3. Third, eliminate every reason why it can’t be done.
There’s no such thing as “impossible”—just things we don’t yet know how to do.
3. Desperation
What I want, others want too.
Success belongs to the one who is desperate.
Steady effort isn’t always enough.
There are moments when you must summon every ounce of strength.
Desperation is a powerful weapon.
You must create your own sense of desperation.
9. Timing of Challenge
1. Timing
I train steadily through continuous improvement.
Innovation comes at leaps—or at the brink of crisis.
Revolution is destiny.
2. Order
Why? comes first. Then How?
I always begin with the essence, then find the solution.
10. Obstacles of Challenge
Obstacles are a given in any challenge.
Break through, leap over, or find a way around.
Obstacles:
Lack of resources—time, money, connections, technology
Lack of ability—knowledge, skills, experience, strength
Environment constrains—laws, systems, physical conditions, circumstances
Fear— of failure, of risk, of judgement
Mistakes—misjudgments, errors, oversights
There is no challenge without obstacles.
If there are none, it is not a challenge.
The greater the obstacle, the greater the change.
In The Birth Revolution, I decide to explode and shatter the incredible obstacles with a nuclear bomb and break through.
1. The Collective National Madness Syndrome.
2. Total ignorance—11 ignorances.
3. I am a complete Nobody.
11. Resistance to Challenge
Every challenge meets resistance.
The world resists you because you dared to challenge it.
Improvement, innovation, and revolution.
The higher you go, the stronger the resistance.
There are two principles to break through.
1. Stay true to the founding purpose of the organization.
If it’s a company—pursue profit.
If it’s a charity—serve others.
If it’s a nation—uphold its constitutional duty: to protect the lives, safety, and happiness of its people.
2. Ask: Is it right?
If it’s right—do it.
If it’s not—don’t.
Not in the name of some abstract “justice,”
but in alignment with the founding purpose of the organization.
ㅡㅡㅡ
Do you hate resistance?
Then start something of your own.
Become the organization yourself.
From now on, you’re competing against yourself.
Any external competitors are simply trainers helping you grow.
Scale, skill, grit—build them all.
Whether you’re an employee, or a founder,
what matters is whether you stay faithful to the organization’s true purpose.
Two principles never change—regardless of the size of the organization.
ㅡㅡㅡ
Then what about you?
Ever since high school, through my days in the military, my first job, and up to this very moment—I have lived by these principles.
Now, at last: The Birth Revolution.
Everything is at stake for every citizen—
Life, safety, and property.
This nation is collapsing.
The people are at the edge of extinction.
No one knows the root causes of the low birthrate and the solution.
The government doesn’t even have a clue.
Worse still, it doesn’t even have what it’s looking for.
Worst of all, it hides the truth from its own people.
So I founded something.
I became the organization.
To deliver the solution to every citizen.
Because this is right and good.
12. Price of Challenge
Every challenge comes with a price or a reward.
Once, I bet my entire fortune—and everything else I had.
For this current challenge—The Birth Revolution—
I stake the remaining years of an aging body.
The thrill is in proportion to the risk.
But this time, it's not about the thrill.
13. Preparation for Challenge
● Mindset
To memorize and act without hesitation, I distill key lessons into concise Korean idioms—just two or four characters long.
These idioms help me keep the mindset sharp and ready to act instantly.
□ Before challenge
1. PMA
Positive Mental Attitude.
I first heard this phrase when I was 24, from a British man I met as a university student.
It was during the early days of teaching myself English conversation.
I grabbed him without a plan and spoke with him for an hour.
I barely understood most of what he said—
except for one thing he kept emphasizing:
Positive Mental Attitude.
It was, indeed, something worth emphasizing.
Forty years later, I emphasize it myself.
Positive Mental Attitude.
2. Late but fast = Neut-ppa
The moment one thinks it's too late is actually the earliest possible time.
In short: When it feels late, it's actually early.
Or even shorter: Late is fast.
Put another way, there’s no such thing as "late."
The real problem is not even trying.
Sometimes, starting late is even better—
because others have already cleared much of the initial risk.
Neut-ppa combines the first syllables of the Korean words for ‘late’ (neut-eun) and ‘fast’ (ppa-reun).
In Korean, each syllable is a single character, so Neut-ppa is a compact and powerful expression.
It captures a sharp insight: what feels late may, in fact, be fast—because you’ve finally started moving.
3. Strengthen strengths, supplement weaknesses
Focus on making strengths even stronger, and supplementing weaknesses.
One can't be perfect at everything.
In Korean, this is a four-character idiom.
4. 75% of the success
If starting is half, deciding is half the start. Only a quarter remains.
□ During challenge
1. Find a way
Don’t look for reasons it won’t work—find a way it can.
When I was 27 and working at a major company, all employees would recite ten slogans every morning.
Only one has stayed with me—and I still use it well.
It stuck because I memorized it back then as a Korean four-character idiom.
I pour in my whole mind and body.
Use every method and resource.
Unexpected variables always arise—
if not, it’s not a real challenge.
□ After challenge
Success or failure is part of the process.
Success is to be fully enjoyed.
Failure is a lesson.
● Preparation period
□ Single challenge
I usually prepare within six months—a year or more at most.
In special cases, it can take up to a year and a half.
I always keep my eyes and ears open to the world:
politics, economy, society, and culture—both at home and abroad.
I sense the tide of change.
I prepare.
Then I ride the wave—or reinvent myself.
If the timing isn't right, I wait.
□ A series of challenges
Each one becomes a stepping stone to the next.
● Final checklist before challenge
Success inevitably invites competitors.
A new, more powerful competitor leaves you defenseless.
□ Build entry barriers
Otherwise, you’re just clearing the path for someone else.
Failure is the minimum price and It’ll break your heart—or worse.
It can even lead to suicide.
Better not to start at all.
I realized this when I was 15, after witnessing the death of Mr. Hwang, a neighbor.
A poor, naive mountain farmer effortlessly outdid a wealthy expert.
He never even planned to enter the business world.
I was deeply shocked.
□ Worst-case scenario
It can even destroy your family.
If there’s concern, seek your spouse’s consent beforehand.
In reality, the worst-case scenario is more common than the best.
□ Best-case scenario
Assume the best, and you will receive four rewards in return.
Perseverance in hardship,
Relentless drive,
Humility after success,
A strong entry barrier.
Otherwise, success beyond expectations may turn into a disaster.
Many first-prize lottery winners ruin their own lives.
● Validity period of challenge
The first three year from preparing are the most thrilling.
After that, there’s nothing left to improve or innovate.
When it becomes routine, it’s comfortable but boring.
14. Seven Steps of Challenge
1. Play big.
I do.
I am a revolutionary.
The book: The Birth Revolution.
2. See the whole.
The blueprint appeared.
3. Look down from above.
The Upist Party was born. Beyond left and right.
4. Look into the essence.
The insight emerged.
5. Think in reverse.
The impossible became the possible.
$500,000 for two babies—free, for generations.
Recruitment at 60.
6. Grasp the details.
The sum of parts completed the whole.
7. Hit the ground.
The answer was on site.
15. Life of Challenge
● Long-term direction and scope of challenge
□ There is no fixed direction or scope.
To define them is to set one’s own limits.
Therefore, challenges have no fixed direction or scope.
What becomes routine in one field can spark innovation in another.
The greater the gap between fields, the greater the potential for innovation.
□ Me: cases
1. Age 27–Success. Executive-level role. a self-innovation
Just six months after joining a major corporation,
I was performing the role of an executive as a new recruit.
I reported directly to the Executive Vice President one-on-one
and attended executive-level meetings.
Work Situation:
New recruits had no assigned tasks for the first two months.
My response:
To voluntarily seek out and define my own work.
Results:
1. As a newcomer, I carried out the work of managers, senior managers, and even executives—all alone, entirely self-driven and without any support.
2. I managed the annual import of a single petrochemical raw material worth tens of millions of dollars.
3. I took charge of raw material contracts and held authority over pricing decisions.
4. I attended meetings and met face-to-face with executive-level partners from Japan and the U.S.
Keys to Success:
1. Prepared for three years before joining, with a goal to become a major company CEO before the age of 50.
2. I voluntarily took on responsibilities from the start and continuously expanded my role.
3. Ranked top in English conversation skills within the company.
It was a self-innovation.
2. Age 30–Success. From import to sales. A groundbreaking marketing strategy
I voluntarily transitioned from importing petrochemical raw materials to domestic cosmetics sales, while also moving back to my hometown to fulfill my duty as the eldest son of a baby boomer family.
I walked away from a guaranteed career path in Seoul to start over in a city—because of duty.
Role:
I sold over 1,000 cosmetic products, generating $1 million annually.
Goal:
I voluntarily set my sales target at double the official quota to cut down inventory massively within a short period.
Result:
In just six months, I raised my region’s market share from a long-standing second place to number one.
Secrets to Success:
1. I set my own sales goal at twice the expected target.
2. I developed an unprecedented marketing strategy to achieve it.
3. I convinced local distributors by staking my resignation and severance pay.
It was an innovation.
3. Age 36–Success. A small business owner. A desperate measure
I quit a major corporation to become my own boss.
Role: Owner of a cosmetics shop.
Goal: Secure the best-located shop in the region.
Results:
1. Acquired the best shop at the lowest cost.
2. Doubled sales immediately upon reopening.
3. After that, the shop space was doubled.
Keys to success:
1. In cosmetics retail, nothing matters more than location.
2. Built trust with the shop owner over 5 years—the best locations can't be bought with money alone.
3. A desperate measure: A last-minute turnaround—the contract for the top location flipped just the night before.
It was a kind of innovation.
4. Age 45–Major failure. From domestic to global. A new business model
As illustrated in the bankruptcy part of Chapter 2, titled “3 Hells.”
Role: Venture CEO
Goals:
Dominate the domestic cosmetics distribution market—then take on the world.
Sell the business model across all distribution sectors with royalty-based licensing.
Increase revenue tenfold every three years—from $300,000, $3 million, $30 million, $300 million, $3 billion, $30 billion, $300 billion.
My ultimate vision was that, by 2021, at age 61, I would become the richest person in South Korea and one of the richest in the world.
Result: Bankruptcy
Reasons for failure:
1. The Black Monday crash.
2. Illegal practices by large corporations and biased government regulations.
3. A sense of responsibility and emotional attachment. And I believed this was my first and last chance.
I owned the failure.
It was a quasi-revolution.
5. Age 45–Success. Pioneer of hybrid shop model
I transformed a single-category cosmetics shop into a hybrid shop offering three distinct product lines: $10 cosmetics, $5,000 high-end gold jewelry such as pure gold bracelets, and $1 everyday items like socks.
Role: Owner, Sales, and Purchasing Manager.
Goal: Repay $1 million in debt and interest.
Results:
Sales tripled immediately after reopening and net profit skyrocketed 13 times.
Two years later, with rapid progress in debt repayment, I allowed myself a modest reward: my first new car—a BMW 528i. A birthday gift for my wife, and a symbol of recovery for the whole family.
Keys to Success:
1. Urgency—I had to escape bankruptcy no matter what.
2. Created South Korea’s first hybrid shop model of this kind and introduced groundbreaking sales methods I developed myself.
3. Reorganized operations: ran the shop with 3 sales staff instead of the usual 6.
It was an innovation.
6. Age 62–Success. Reclaiming Purity / Unmanned Shop
□ Reclaiming lost purity
Three months after opening the unmanned shop,
I decided to carry out an old wish.
Nine years ago, upon retiring,
I suddenly wanted to become a child again.
I longed to recover the innocence of my childhood.
I longed to cleanse, even just a little, my soul—soiled by years of survival in a cutthroat world.
Since then, I’ve told young parents of little children—toddlers, preschoolers, even early elementary school kids—the same three sentences thousands of times:
In an age where children are precious,
A child is the hope of us all!
A child is the future of us all!
I was deeply grateful to both the parents and the children for their presence, for their future, and for the hope they represent.
But these words didn’t bring me any closer to recovering that lost purity.
The main customers at my unmanned shop were children.
Then one day, it struck me—what if became friends with them?
What if I told them to call me by name and speak casually, like friends?
But… What if they were rude?
What if they made fun of me?
What if their parents complain?
In South Korea, addressing an elder without honorifics is not just considered rude—it’s unthinkable.
It violates a core cultural code.
No other elderly person in South Korea lives this way.
After a week of consideration, preparation and hesitation, I decided to just try.
On May 31, 2023, on the shop notice board, I posted this title and message: "Hello, Si-Kyun. Let's be friends."
And I asked children to call me by my name and speak casually, as friends.
In a society built on hierarchy, I broke the wall—to restore equality and innocence.
The moment I began, I realized all my worries were pointless.
The kids welcomed me with open arms.
We became friends—instantly.
It felt like they had been waiting for someone like me with a pure heart.
To them, there were no truly approachable adults.
I was the first.
And that year,
I recognized the shocking truth about South Korea's birthrate crisis.
In that moment, my entire life came to a halt.
I couldn't move forward.
I couldn't look away.
Before the children—who are our hope, our future, and my friends—awaited a living hell.
I was determined to save them.
I had no choice but to find the solution.
No matter what it took.
ㅡㅡㅡ
Now I’ve been friends with hundreds of elementary school students for three years.
Not a single parent has ever complained.
On the contrary, some said it was very funny, and others even thanked me.
A few friends stopped calling me by name and returned to formal speech. They said their parents told not to.
When that happens, I simply say, “Do whatever makes you feel comfortable.”
Even they come back as friends after a while.
Once a friend, always a friend.
I became a child again.
Children and an old man grow together.
They grow up fast, and I grow younger—backwards.
Role: A child
Purpose: Reclaiming lost purity
Result: Countless new friends
Hundreds of children
Dozens of middle and high schoolers
Three female college students
Three adults
Keys to Success:
Love and trust in children
Just do it.
It was the best decision I made after retirement.
It became a stepping stone to The Birth Revolution.
I named the unmanned shop Snack Heaven—
a paradise made for little angels.
It was the rehearsal for the revolution.
□ Unmanned shop
After retiring at 56, I launched an unmanned snack shop as a side business. Children are the main customers. It is the largest and most spacious of its kind in the city. A specialized snack shop with four product categories: ice cream, kids’ snacks, adult snacks, and pet treats.
The model shop is complete. Scaling to 1,000 locations nationwide is immediately feasible. With upgrades, this model could replace convenience stores. A disruptive business opportunity—but I chose not to expand.
I set my principles at retirement: Health, work, and time.
1. Health comes first—safety is my top priority.
2. Work: I allow myself to work only 3 days a week, 3 hours a day. Complete social withdrawal leads to loneliness and aging. Staying lightly connected matters.
3. Time for myself—all remaining time is entirely mine. I have reasonable income and assets to live without financial stress.
Why unmanned retail suits me:
1. 20 years of experience in shop operations.
2. I visit the shop every other day for 3 hours—it doubles as light exercise.
3. I can meet children.
Role: Owner
Goal: Work 3 days/week, 3 hours/day
Result: The most profitable unmanned shop in the city. Still in operation.
Keys to Success: Prime location, largest floor space and best product mix
It was an improvement for me—and an innovation unique to South Koreans.
Note
Unmanned shop
It's the pinnacle of humanity’s culture.
It’s not just about trust.
It’s about education, language, and civilization.
Why do unmanned shops work nationwide in South Korea—yet fail even in countries with low crime rates like Japan?
Because the real key is not just trust—but literacy.
South Korea has one of the lowest illiteracy rates in the world—less than 1%.
This is thanks to:
1. An advanced public education system,
2. A high standard of civic responsibility, and
3. Above all, Hangul—a scientifically designed, easy-to-learn alphabet created by King Sejong.
Even Japan, with its excellent safety and etiquette, has a functional illiteracy rate around 20% due to its complex writing system (Kanji).
In an unmanned shop, signs are staff.
If 1 in 10 customers can’t read instructions or operate kiosks, true unmanned operation is impossible.
South Korea is the only country where:
1. Most people read and follow signs perfectly,
2. Even children understand self-payment rules,
3. Trust and literacy combine at a national level.
And the most astonishing part?
South Koreans themselves are unaware of this cultural achievement.
In South Korea, unmanned shops are part of daily life—thriving in every city, across industries, in every neighborhood.
No one stops to ask, “How is this even possible?"
Yet this very normalcy is what makes it extraordinary.
A society where unmanned shops thrive is more than safe—
It is culturally literate.
And South Korea, through trust, education, and language, stands at the pinnacle of humanity’s culture.
I was the first to realize this extraordinary truth—and I printed this very message on an A4 sheet, posting on the glass behind the self-checkout kiosk in my unmanned shop for everyone to see—and to feel proud.
That’s how it all began:
“In an unmanned shop, the customer is the owner.
This works nationwide only in South Korea.
We, all South Koreans, are now enjoying the pinnacle of humanity’s culture.”
Isn’t this heaven on Earth?
7. Age 64–The Birth Revolution
Role: Revolutionary
Goal: To save my nation and my people.
In progress.
Phase 1: The theory of the revolution
After a year and a half of total focus, I completed the theoretical foundation.
In a humanities revolution, completing the theory itself is already a success.
Keys to Success:
1. Desperation–The nation faces collapse, the people face extinction.
2. Imperative–This must succeed. Failure means economic ruin.
3. Responsibility–As a baby boomer, I am to blame for the low birthrate.
Phase 2: The execution of the revolution
It is underway.
It is a real revolution.
● Life of challenge
To me, challenge is life itself.
□ Before retirement
Finding meaning in responsibility.
As the eldest son of a baby boomer family, I found meaning in supporting my parents and family.
In my career, I found pride in contributing to society.
I constantly sought meaning.
In duties I was obliged to perform,
I always asked myself: How am I contributing to society through this work?
If someone is getting paid, it means the work is needed by society.
I always asked two questions:
1. Is it right?
2. Is it legal?
The easiest way to make money is through illegal means.
But there is nothing more foolish than spending one and only life doing harm.
□ After retirement
Seeking values.
I began to pursue values.
In the pursuit of values, there is only fulfillment—no success or failure.
The most successful person later in life is one who succeeds in fulfillment.
1. Finding myself–Success
Who am I?
What is happiness?
After seven years, I found my answer.
From 2017 to 2022.
2. Reclaiming lost purity–Success
I reclaimed my lost purity by becoming true friends with hundreds of children.
In a world where survival and social maneuvering had tainted my soul,
I longed to return to the innocence of my childhood—
and I found it through genuine connection with children.
It’s been three year
since May 2023.
3. Saving my nation and my people–In progress
The Birth Revolution.
It’s been 2 years since Nov. 2023.
● A few aphorisms
I cannot unfold the entire life of challenge in this one chapter.
Let a few aphorisms speak for it.
□ Life is a challenge anyway.
Theory of Challenge, Episode 141 | May 12, 2025
Life is a challenge anyway.
Whether you want it or not,
You either challenge or be challenged.
Whether you act or stay still,
life is a series of challenges.
From birth to death, life is a struggle.
Even a fetus fights with all its strength to pass through the birth canal.
We now live in an age where even dying with dignity is a challenge.
Therefore, this proposition is true.
Life is challenge.
Challenge is life.
□ Challenge is foresight.
Theory of Challenge, Episode 149 | May 19, 2025
Challenge is foresight.
Even if it doesn’t begin that way, it changes me—
so, in the end, it becomes foresight.
Thus, the proposition holds true.
The more frequent the challenge, the sharper the foresight becomes.
Because failure must be reduced to the bare minimum.
Greater challenges demand greater foresight.
A life-risking challenge calls for desperate foresight.
A challenge is the act of foreseeing the future based on past experience,
changing the present accordingly, and thereby changing the future.
The more frequent and intense the challenge, the stronger the foresight becomes.
□ A dish called success and failure
Theory of Challenge, Episode 151 | May 20, 2025
A small failure is the seasoning for great success.
A major failure is the bowl that holds even greater success.
Success and failure are one dish,
as long as you never stop challenging.
□ Grateful for a full circle of life
Looking back, mine has been a life of challenge.
While the mountains and rivers changed six times,
I myself became the upheaval—three times, in three seasons of life:
Once in youth, once in middle age, and once in old age.
Great opportunities seem to come once every twenty years.
I used to think life beyond sixty was an extra blessing.
Now I am even more grateful—
For this full circle of life.
Note
A Korean proverb says, “Even mountains and rivers change in ten years.”
It reminds us how dramatically the world can shift in a decade.
In East Asian tradition, 60 years marks a complete zodiac cycle—a full life, and a new beginning.
16. All Challenges for Happiness
It's truly strange. One day at 56, I suddenly asked myself:
Wait, why am I living so seriously?
I had lived diligently, fulfilled my duty to support my family.
Wasn’t that enough?
Looking in the mirror, I saw a face hardened and worn.
When was the last time I truly laughed?
It had been so long that I could hardly remember.
So I laughed—loudly, wholeheartedly, mouth wide open:
Ha Ha Ha Ha!
From that moment on, I made a decision: I would laugh. And after that, something deep inside me began to change. Then I asked: “
What does it mean to die?
I lay flat on my bed and imagined my corpse. Tears streamed down endlessly. I became friends—with myself, with even death. I had four more new friends—my parents, my wife, my sons, and my friends. Thus, after going through the eight stages of pre-happiness learning alone, I became someone else. I used to believe living hard and earning money equaled happiness. I finally realized: Happiness is this very moment. I felt like some kind of enlightened master. And from then on, happy things just kept happening.
The pursuit of values that began with my retirement nine years ago eventually led to The Birth Revolution. I didn’t know it then, but The Birth Revolution had actually begun in July 2017—with a wholehearted burst of laughter.
To me, all challenges exist for happiness.
And The Birth Revolution is a Happiness Revolution.
Let’s Laugh
Let’s laugh.
Let’s laugh wide and bright.
Isn’t today the happiest time?
Let’s laugh.
Just laugh.
If we don’t laugh, how will happiness ever come?
Let's cry.
Let’s cry our hearts out.
Wasn’t yesterday the saddest day?
Let’s cry.
Just cry.
If we don’t cry, how will sorrow ever leave?
Let’s endure.
Let’s endure with all we’ve got.
What good will anger ever do?
Let’s endure.
Just endure.
Who will stay, if blamed in bitterness?
Looking back, it’s just a moment,
But looking ahead, it's a long time.
What’s so great about being serious?
Isn't life, after all, just a brief visit?
So long as breath remains,
We can laugh, cry, endure.
Isn’t that happiness itself?
July 11, 2017
I am, therefore I challenge.
