"Try Some, Try Some": An 88-Year-Old Mother's Unstoppable Generosity and the Eldest Son's Lasting Footsteps

A Dream Worth Ten Million Won Turns Into Goat Feed, Amid Conflict With His Mother
From Ulsan Factory Worker to Village Chief in His Hometown
"Being Filial Isn’t as Easy as It Sounds"
The Weight of the Eldest Son, and a Burst of Genuine Emotion

Unmun-myeon, Cheongdo County, North Gyeongsang Province.

This small village, rooted in generations of ancestral heritage, is home to 117 people—locals as well as newcomers who have moved here for farming or a quieter life.

Amid the tranquil rural landscape, where the average age is in the late 60s, Kim Byungjun (67), the village chief since 2024, begins each day by cleaning up after his mother’s unusual “harvest relay.” He diligently takes on all the hard tasks needed in the community.

Kim Byungjun, Village Chief of Ojin-ri, Unmun-myeon, Cheongdo County. Photo by Choi Daeuk

On September 11, while the reporter was visiting the village and talking with Chief Kim, his 88-year-old mother, Baek Soonmae, who has shown symptoms of dementia for four years, did not stop bustling about.

Her greatest joy and way of life is to hand out handfuls of not-quite-ripe jujubes from the field to anyone who passes, saying, “Try some of this.”

Even on this day, with a bright smile, she filled the reporter’s hands with a generous handful of freshly picked jujubes straight from the field.

The warmth in her weathered hands was deeply moving.

Grandmother Baek Sunmae is holding a handful of jujubes and handing them generously into the hands of the reporter. Photo by Choe Daeok

“I don’t grow peaches for money—no, not at all. I enjoy sharing them with each household to show kindness, but I do think of jujubes and potatoes as sources of income...”

At the end of Chief Kim’s words, there is a bittersweet smile and a trace of deep regret.

In reality, jujubes and potatoes are precious sources of livelihood for him, whereas he grows peaches not for profit, but to share with neighbors, relatives, and friends as a gesture of warmth and friendship.

The 1,100-pyeong (approximately 3,630 square meters) jujube field usually starts bearing fruit in late August, but only after the Chuseok holiday, when the cold wind blows, can the harvest truly be packed and sold as proper boxed jujubes.

Well-dried jujubes fetch around 110,000 won per box, and with around 100 boxes harvested, this yields a considerable income of about 10 million won—a rare crop indeed.

Potatoes, planted from three seed potato boxes at the end of May and harvested before the summer solstice in June, produce a bountiful yield—about ten 20 kg boxes per row (one row per box).

The special Mysterious Peach, picked just as its color begins to change in early to mid-May before it fully ripens, is another prized yield that cannot be left out.

However, to his mother, only the fruit she can see and touch immediately matters.

Without distinction of “mine” or “yours,” she picks all the fruit she can reach just for fun, handing them to others, which causes a daily commotion—she picks not only what’s in their own field but also in neighbors’ fields.

Jujubes that Grandma Baek Sunmae picked in advance every day just for fun. Photo by Choi Daeok

As a result, constant small and large conflicts arise between mother and son over the jujube and potato crops. Ultimately, most of the precious fruit that his mother picks to share with everyone in the village ends up as feed for the goats that Chief Kim raises with care.

Chief Kim’s life has always been immersed in the earth and sweat.

Until age 25, even when he came home on military leave, he never took a break from farm work.

After joining Hyundai Heavy Industries in Ulsan in 1984, he continued to farm on the weekends by traveling back and forth to his hometown.

A major turning point came in 1991, when his father passed away.

As the eldest grandson in the family, he had to fill the void left by his father and shoulder heavy responsibilities.

Even while working quietly at the company, he took care of his family and protected his hometown. In 2016, just four years before his planned retirement, he took voluntary early retirement and returned home for good.

After returning, he began raising goats and, after serving as team leader starting in 2017, took on the role of village chief in 2024.

People around him sometimes suggest placing his mother in a nursing facility to relieve the burden of caring for a parent with dementia.

However, Byungjun Kim says he has not the slightest intention of sending his mother to an institution.

Since losing his father in 1991 and becoming the main pillar of the family as the eldest grandson, his mother—dementia or not—remains the very root and foundation of his life, a person he will cherish forever.

Son Byeongjun Kim and mother Soonmae Baek. Photo by Choi Daeok

During the interview, Chief Kim was eventually overcome by emotion, his eyes reddening with tears he had held back.

“Being filial isn’t as easy as it sounds. I wish I could let her roam like a child, but when she picks from other people’s fields... I’ve always wanted to look after my mother all my life, but when I face reality...”

His faltering voice revealed a complex mixture of tenderness and sorrow for his mother amid the hardships of daily life.

Even his mother’s odd habit of picking unripe jujubes and giving them to the goats is, in his eyes, a source of aching tenderness.

On this land where his ancestors have lived for generations, Kim Byungjun quietly fulfills the heavy duty of the eldest son, sweeping the yard where the bleats of the goats and his mother’s warm calls of “Try some” overlap each day.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.