Prologue: Confession after Surviving

Chapter 1 * Back on Ulleungdo

I live in Ulleungdo
Children going to study abroad
To my hometown, where I never wanted to return
A world apart from the rest
birth abroad
Raising a child on Ulleungdo
Mothers' social life
Dokdo, you are my destiny
Do you know about Dokdo River?
Coming soon
Indebted to Dokdo
Squid, pumpkin candy, and Dokdo stationery
Into the typhoon
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Various ways to see Ulleungdo and Dokdo
How to fully enjoy Ulleungdo

Chapter 2 * The more you know, the deeper your heart becomes

Social enterprise? What's that?
This small shop turned into a stock company
You want me to make it?
The snowiest island in South Korea
Treasure Island Flea Market
Breaking the dojo? No, breaking the factory.
A day at work with a child
The power that keeps you going
First collaboration
Spring and summer in Ulleungdo
Dokdo Stationery's steady seller
Our identity
Dokdo Kangchi doll of love and hate
Ulleungdo during the pandemic
Still living
Kangchi has appeared!
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Introducing Ulleungdo's leading motion sickness remedy store
How to successfully enter Dokdo

Chapter 3 * Why You Should Continue

Newtro Dokdo Stationery
Hosadama
Goods featuring Ulleungdo
First part-time job
Young people filling Ulleungdo
Consumption that cares for the planet
Between work and home
Dokdo Day
The wind that blew on Ulleungdo
The power of local!
Thunberg and plogging
How an Introverted Stationery Store Owner Treats Customers
Heaven and Hell Pop-up Store
Frogs on Ulleungdo Island
Dokdo Stationery is hiring!
The storm is noticed too late
Birth of Ulleung's main character
Creating an attractive neighborhood
The reason I came to Ulleungdo
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Traveling is all about enjoying the local flavors.

Epilogue: The Grandmother Who Keeps the Stationery Store for a Long Time

Cancellations are a daily occurrence! Closed on typhoon days! Closed even during heavy snow!
There are many things that exist, and many things that do not exist.
The reason for opening a stationery store on the remote island of Ulleungdo

An island that preserves the mystery of ancient times.
Ulleungdo Island, with its distinct climate and culture from the mainland, is the place in South Korea most directly influenced by nature and weather.
Because it is in the path of typhoons, you cannot enter or leave the island during bad weather, and in winter, the snow piles up higher than a person, so much so that it is nicknamed a winter kingdom.


The author, a fifth-generation Ulleungdo native, lived in Seoul as a film marketer until 20 years ago when he returned to his hometown, a place he had longed to leave, and opened Dokdo Stationery Store.
This is because we wanted to convey the history and stories of Dokdo, which we must remember and tell, to the next generation in a more interesting and new way.

“We are opening ‘Dokdo Stationery Store’ with the hope of protecting our land, Dokdo, without forgetting a single blade of grass or fish that lives there.”

However, the first business started ahead of enthusiasm was full of twists and turns, and the process was even more difficult because it was located in an island or mountainous area, where shipping costs doubled even for a single product sample.
Despite his ambitious mission, his meager business experience led to trial and error, and the process of establishing the brand's identity was nothing less than a process of self-reflection.
But he didn't give up.
Because I thought it was something only I could do.


Local brands that coexist with the region
A sustainable future dreamed of in a region where people are leaving

There are things that are so familiar that they are invisible when they are close.
An unfamiliar and new landscape that can only be seen when you take a step back and look at it.
As a child, he longed to leave the island surrounded by the sea on all sides, but upon returning to his hometown, he finally opened his eyes to the natural and cultural values ​​that only Ulleungdo possesses.
A natural environment and seasonal foods that cannot be found in big cities, a life that follows the flow of nature, and above all, a natural environment that we must protect and a history that we must remember.


Ulleungdo, like other rural and fishing villages, is also facing serious problems of population cliff and regional extinction.
It's hard to find young people on the island, and even those that do exist are decreasing every day.
If Ulleungdo, the only gateway to Dokdo, were to disappear, the unique culture and history that we have painstakingly preserved would gradually lose their power and eventually be forgotten.
Ulleungdo is an essential base for protecting Dokdo, an island where humans cannot live.


The author is working on various projects to combine "Dokdo Defense," which feels like an outdated, old-fashioned trend, with cultural products to generate sustained interest.
Moreover, it brings a breath of fresh air to Ulleungdo by adding environmental values ​​that we must preserve in the era of climate crisis.
Even though it is a very small wind blowing from a small stationery store, it can easily be shaken and toppled by the storms of large capital and the times.
But his struggle to get back up and find his own way will provide encouragement and strength to anyone looking to run their own brand or start something new.
This book contains the small but steady efforts of one person over 12 years and the changes they brought about.