[Power K-Women] "Life Unfolds New Chapters Even After Seventy"

Yoon Young-joo Debuted as a Senior Model at 73
Dropped Out Due to Marriage... Graduated After 50 and Completed Doctoral Dissertation
Also Published Essay 'I Started Walking at Seventy'

Yoon Young-joo, a 73-year-old senior model and an icon of senior style. Two years ago, she gained attention by appearing as the oldest contestant on MBN’s senior model audition program “Live Long and See - Accidental Model” and winning the final victory. Her confident and elegant demeanor, which was hard to believe belonged to a woman in her seventies, surprised both viewers and judges alike.

Model Yoon Young-joo stood at the center of the runway called life and spoke through her body to middle-aged and older women: “Do not fear aging, just stay healthy. If you have the spirit of challenge, anyone, no matter how old, can do something new.”

"No matter how old you are, you can do something new"

Recently, she accomplished something new again. She published an essay containing her life and reflections titled “I Started Walking at Seventy”. The subtitle is “If You Don’t Dare, You Can’t Do Anything ? To You Who Can Do Anything”.

“The publisher suggested sending a message of hope especially to middle-aged women who fear aging. They said, ‘Don’t say nonsense, I started at seventy! Please tell that story.’ Honestly, from my mid-forties to my fifties and sixties, I was afraid of getting old and it was so sad. But around my mid-sixties, as the sensation of aging faded, the fear disappeared at some point.”

Life is unpredictable. Even model Yoon Young-joo, who repeatedly takes bold challenges, never expected that she would be active as a model beyond seventy. When she chose marriage as an escape from the suffocating patriarchal atmosphere during her junior year at university, she never imagined that she would be trapped in an even greater constraint as the eldest son’s daughter-in-law of a head family.

Dropped out of Ewha University due to marriage... The hard life of the eldest son’s daughter-in-law

In the 1970s, the rules at Ewha Womans University stipulated that marriage would lead to expulsion. She planned to keep her marriage secret and continue attending school to graduate, but when she became pregnant, the secret was inevitably revealed. She became the 34th eldest son’s daughter-in-law, raising children and performing thirteen ancestral rites a year. During that time, she tried several times to engage in outside activities such as working as an art museum curator, a broadcaster reporter, and a columnist, but she had to give up each time due to her husband’s opposition.

It was only in 2003 that her expulsion from Ewha University was lifted. Although she was already over fifty, she wanted to complete her unfinished studies. When the lock that had been in place for over 30 years was finally removed, her passion for studying literally exploded. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree and challenged the graduate program in aesthetics at Hongik University.

“Studying was so much fun. I wasn’t trying to get a job at that age. I studied purely because I wanted to know and learn. I finished my master’s at fifty-six, and maybe because my passion was pitiful, they even accepted me into the doctoral program. I was excited to enter but soon regretted it. It was really tough (laughs).”

Her doctoral thesis topic was “Nam June Paik’s Media Art Viewed through Merleau-Ponty’s Inter-subjectivity.” Merleau-Ponty, a somewhat unfamiliar French philosopher, was a pioneer of the philosophy of the body, emphasizing sensation rather than traditional ideas, and argued that “philosophy should be felt as if viewing an artwork.” This aspect deeply resonated with model Yoon.

“At the time, people might have thought that a woman over sixty just did a sloppy doctoral thesis, but aesthetics and philosophy are among the most difficult academic fields. Especially philosophy, the terminology itself was a wall. I read both translations and original texts thoroughly and worked harder than I ever could. But having lived long and experienced much, I gradually understood more and more.”

Senior model Yoon Young-joo. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

She repeatedly went through the process of reading and rereading, not understanding at first but eventually grasping the meaning. When asked to name the happiest moment in her life, she still says, “When I was writing my doctoral thesis,” adding, “The exhilaration of suddenly understanding something that seemed impossible to know is unforgettable.” People around her wondered, “Why study so hard at your age?” but she simply thought, “It’s just that the process of getting to know myself started late.” Model Yoon explains, “Philosophers want to know the essence the most.” So, did she find her essential nature through studying philosophy?

“I am basically a curious person. Philosophy, aesthetics, and art are very deep fields, so I can’t know everything anyway, but just stepping into the process of exploring them makes me feel blessed. If I get the chance, I want to study psychoanalysis and psychology as well.”

Vera Wang, the wedding dress designer adored by celebrities worldwide, is famous for maintaining a more stunning physique and style than younger models even at age 74. In an interview with CNBC, she revealed that the secret to her youthfulness was “Brain and Spirit.” Model Yoon Young-joo’s secret seems to be the same: a constant attitude of studying and exploring the self.

After finishing her thesis, instead of resting, she took on another challenge. This time, she wanted to use her body and went to a modeling academy. She was seventy then. Even though she was willing to pay to learn, the academy director tilted his head and said, “Can you walk? It will be difficult.”

In August 2022, designer Choi Byung-du appeared at the A. Bell show. Photo by Yoon Young-joo

Last year, as a fashion influencer, she had the opportunity to interview designer Jin Tae-ok, who is actively working even past ninety. Meeting the grand dame of the fashion world made her very nervous. After the interview, as they parted, Jin said to her, “Yoon Young-joo, do you know you are a more beautiful model than young models?” It was not just a remark to encourage an older senior model. At that moment, she vowed, “Don’t forget these words, live with pride.”

“The good thing about getting older is discovering new meanings in life one by one. The conflicts and desires that troubled me for so long gradually fade, and I gain the strength of heart to talk to anyone and forgive anyone.”

She lost her husband over ten years ago. The loss of the man she had fought fiercely with and once truly hated was beyond imagination. When the daily life of fifty years suddenly disappeared with him, she realized that he had been her closest friend. The ancestral rites were the same. In her youth, they were a torment, but after fifty-two years together, they became a beautiful ceremony. She realized that preparing materials and food was not only for ancestors but also gave good emotional energy to the living. However, due to differing opinions with her son and daughter-in-law, she has now let go of the ritual. She thought she would feel relieved, but a great sense of loss flooded her, as when she lost her husband.

Model Yoon confesses, “No matter how good youth is, if someone told me to go back to my twenties or thirties, I wouldn’t want to.” It was that hard. It is a mistake to think that she only experienced mental hardship in a wealthy head family just because of her graceful and glamorous appearance. She ran a sports goods store for seventeen years and cared for a cantankerous widowed father for over twenty years. At times, she felt unfair and angry, wondering why she had to live like that.

“Although times and circumstances differ, I understand the anger and frustration young people feel today. Whenever I was struggling, I found comfort in music. I felt catharsis and purification listening to Shostakovich.”

Comfort current anger and anxiety with art

She advises the younger generation to find comfort for their anxiety about the future and anger about the present through art. Since external circumstances cannot be controlled, one must manage the inner self, and art is the best companion for that. Through art, one can feel inner fulfillment, and above all, art never betrays.

The title of her essay, “I Started Walking at Seventy”, outwardly refers to walking the runway but contains multiple meanings: starting a new path at seventy, still living with fear, trembling, and hope, and still having the strength to overcome herself.

Someone once said that if a 100-year life were a single day, fifty years old would be just noon. According to that formula, seventy-three is around 6 p.m. Especially for passionate people like model Yoon, the sunset of midsummer is the most elegant time at its peak. Most people wrap up their day and hurry home, but for some, it is still enough time to start something new. She is now dressed and leaving home to attend a party, full of anticipation and excitement about what new things will happen today.

*Senior model Yoon Young-joo is

Born in 1949. She gained attention by appearing as the oldest contestant and winning on MBN’s senior model audition program “Live Long and See - Accidental Model.” She married while attending Ewha Womans University’s Department of French Language and Literature and lived as the eldest son’s daughter-in-law of a head family for over fifty years, performing about seven hundred ancestral rites. After turning sixty, she wrote a doctoral thesis in aesthetics at Hongik University and started runway walking at seventy. She is currently active as a senior model, commercial model, and influencer. Recently, she published the essay “I Started Walking at Seventy”.