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Ssuk Island is a small island only a little more than a square kilometer in size and located near Nara Island, Goheung, Jeonnam-Gwangju Special Metropolitan City. In 2017, it was dedicated as the first private garden in South Jeolla Province. It contains a variety of flower species in a 30,000 square meter garden filled with lush subtropical forests and stone walls. Last year, about 100,000 people visited.

The garden is due to the work of Mr. Kim, a teacher, and Ms. Goh, a pharmacist. They married in 1996. Because Mr. Kim’s mother’s hometown was Ssuk Island, it became a dream of theirs to build a garden there. They bought land on the island and visited on weekends to work on creating a lush space for plants.

The heart-warming story of this couple using their own money to create and tend a flower garden for the island’s residents spread through the media. In 2016, Ssuk Island was featured in media reports as a “desirable island” with a “beautiful garden.” It was selected by Goheung County and the Korea Forest Service for special attention, bringing more tourists to the small island.

In 2015, the average annual income in Korea exceeded $27,000. It is said that when the average income exceeds $30,000, citizens’ attitudes and mindsets shift towards a more balanced work-life relationship. Consumption patterns shift from focusing on food and shopping-centered tourism to experiences, nature recreation and spatial consumption.

In 2015, the government enacted the Act on the Creation and Furtherance of Arboretums and Gardens and implemented a private garden registration system. With their private gardens officially recognized by this act, many owners opened them to the public.

Private gardens have become hubs for ecotourism as they attract visitors, contribute to the local economy and improve regional income levels. These developments have ensured that the garden on Ssuk Island will remain sustainable not only through admission fees but also through revenue from cafés, gardening classes, lodging and local specialty product sales.

On Ssuk Island, Mr. Kim has taken early retirement from his teaching position to tend the garden. Ms. Goh has set up a greenhouse next to the pharmacy to cultivate various types of flowers that can be transplanted into the garden.

A family’s commitment has beautified a space, enriched a community and helped travelers enjoy beautiful scenery. In other words, one family’s positive influence has transformed a quiet, seaside village into a vibrant and prosperous community.

It has been said that if someone cleans one corner, one corner of the Earth is cleansed. Similarly, when you turn an edge of an island into a beautiful garden, another corner of the Earth becomes more beautiful.

Traveling to Ssuk Island involves only a five-minute boat ride from Nara Island, which is gaining attention as a travel destination for its cypress forests, coastline and the Narado Space Launch Center — flowers and rockets!

Kim Jin-heon is a retired English teacher who published a book titled “Flower Is Flower.”