[Manbo Jeongdam] "We run to empty ourselves... Life becomes painful if we only try to fill it"

A Life Shared by Walking... A Life Finding Hope by Running

'Ijeurin' Uses Profits to Create 'Gyejoksan Hwangtotgil'
A Popular Spot Visited by 1 Million Annually... Over 1 Billion KRW Spent on Maintenance
Finding Answers in the Body During Hard Times... Like Taking a Health Tonic
Completed 'Korea One Round 5228km'... Ran Weekly for 13 Months
Plans to Circle Europe... Aims to Complete Marathons Even at 90
"Will Spark a Rebellion from the Margins with 14.9°C 'Seonyang'"

Editor's Note'Manbo Jeongdam (萬步情談)' is a segment within the ‘One Day Ten Thousand Steps, One Day One Thousand Characters’ movement, featuring interviews with notable figures who love walking. It is an interview conducted while walking together on themes such as work and life, health, and happiness.

[Manbo Jeongdam] "We run to empty ourselves... Life becomes painful if we only try to fill it"

"Now, please take off your shoes. I guarantee you will feel so refreshed and great."

As we entered the entrance of ‘Gyejoksan Hwangto Trail,’ Cho Woong-rae, Chairman of Mackis Company (formerly Seonyang Brewery), encouraged me to take off my shoes and walk barefoot together. Standing under the banner that read, ‘Enjoy a healthy life barefoot, heal yourself on the Hwangto Trail!,’ and seeing his bright smile, I found it impossible to refuse.

He seemed familiar with the routine as he neatly stacked his sneakers and socks in the shoe rack at the entrance and set off on the hike. His expression and voice clearly showed excitement. "This is your first barefoot hike, right? Yesterday the wind was strong, but today the weather is nice. You came at a perfect time. The yellow soil was well packed yesterday, so it will feel very soft and cushiony."

‘Gyejoksan Hwangto Trail’ Created to Engage Local Residents

After walking uphill for about five minutes from the starting point, as my breathing became noticeably heavier, Chairman Cho asked me if I knew why he walks and runs. He said he runs to empty himself. Various problems that trouble us in life arise because we try only to fill up without emptying. "I run to empty the waste accumulated in my body and mind. Whenever my body feels tired and my mind complicated, I always walk or run. Through this process, many things get emptied, and I regain energy."

Chairman Cho starts his day by waking up at 5 a.m. every day and running on the Gyejoksan Hwangto Trail. For him, the Gyejoksan Hwangto Trail is not just a running course. It is a space he personally created to walk and run together with local residents. Gyejoksan is a mountain about 400 meters above sea level located in Jangdong, Daedeok-gu, Daejeon, overlooking Daecheong Lake. The reason yellow soil was laid on this mountain was that Chairman Cho wanted to share the good memories he gained from his first hike there.

"I first came to Gyejoksan in April 2006. One of my companions wore uncomfortable shoes, so I took off my sneakers and walked barefoot. We walked barefoot for five hours and returned home. Maybe because of improved blood circulation, I slept well and felt very refreshed. I thought it would be great if more people could experience this rather than just me."

Thus, about 20,000 tons of yellow soil were spread over a total of 14.5 km of mountain trails, and now it is known as a local attraction visited by one million people annually. Mackis Company creates and manages the Gyejoksan Hwangto Trail using sales proceeds from the soju brand ‘Ijeurin.’ Every year, about 2,000 tons of yellow soil and over 1 billion KRW are invested in maintenance costs.

Jo Ungrae, Chairman of Mackis Company, is walking along the 'S-shaped Course' section, considered the most beautiful part of the Gyejoksan Hwangto Trail in Daedeok-gu, Daejeon. Photo by Huh Younghan younghan@

‘One Lap Around Korea’ Challenge to Overcome Lethargy and Give Hope

"The forest concert hall up to here is the toughest course, but from here on, it’s rather comfortable." After walking continuously for about 30 minutes, an outdoor concert hall with tiered seating came into view. The forest concert hall, decorated with various rocks as seats, hosts the ‘Fun Fun Classical’ performances every weekend.

His smile remained throughout the walk but turned serious when the topic of COVID-19 came up. Due to the pandemic restricting outdoor activities, Chairman Cho also faced business difficulties such as decreased soju sales and setbacks in overseas expansion. In this unprecedented crisis, he found the answer once again in his body.

"The body is the answer; it is my health philosophy and life philosophy. Whenever I face difficulties, I always seek answers from my body. Even during this COVID crisis, I wanted to find a breakthrough in a way no one else tried. What came to mind was running, which I love and am good at. That’s how the ‘One Lap Around Korea, 5,228 km’ challenge began."

Chairman Cho started his challenge on December 3, 2021, at the Unification Observatory in Goseong, Gangwon Province, and successfully completed the 5,228 km course by returning to the same observatory on January 26. He ran along the east, west, and south coasts, island regions, the DMZ trail, Jeju Island’s circumference trail, and Ulleungdo over 116 days, totaling 518 hours, 57 minutes, and 59 seconds. This record was officially certified by the Korea Records Institute as the ‘Fastest Completion of One Lap Around the Korean Peninsula.’ "On weekdays, I worked, and every Friday dawn, I traveled by car to the starting point. For 13 months without missing a single week, I ran 80 to 100 km every Friday and Saturday. The extreme cold and heat were really tough, especially when crossing Jinburyeong Pass, where the wind chill was minus 30 degrees Celsius. But I never thought about giving up. Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean I skip meals, and just because it’s hot doesn’t mean I skip sleep. Since it was a promise I made to myself, I kept running steadily, and at some point, I started enjoying it."

Chairman Cho also created a donation culture by setting aside 10,000 KRW for every kilometer he runs to organizations such as the Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities. "I started this because I feel a sense of obligation to those who want to run but cannot. Every time I run, it feels like taking a tonic, and I consider the donations as the cost of that tonic."

His next running course is aimed at Europe. Having run around Korea, he thinks it would be good to run around the world. "The plan for one lap around Europe is already underway, and I am preparing to properly run it with my wife and a staff team."

He plans to keep running as long as he can. Watching Chairman Cho run under the scorching sun, some people ask with pity why he voluntarily endures such hardship. Each time, he answers that running empties the accumulated burdens in his body and mind, brightening both and boosting his confidence. "Living life according to your own thoughts without worrying about others is a wonderful life. My goal is to complete a full marathon of 42.195 km until I am 90 years old, and even after that, I plan to run for life."

From Whale > Ttukkeobi & Fox … The ‘Seonyang’ Frontier’s Rebellion

With the confidence gained from the 5,228 km ‘One Lap Around Korea’ journey, Chairman Cho is accelerating Mackis Company’s resurgence. The first step was the launch of the new soju product ‘Seonyang (鮮洋)’ last month to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary.

Seonyang is a product designed to meet the recent trend of health consciousness, with the lowest alcohol content in Korea at 14.9% and ‘zero sugar’ without using fructose, achieving the lowest calorie count of 298 kcal (360 ml). Additionally, it uses a shorter, rounder, and transparent bottle compared to existing soju bottles to emphasize a clean image, and it is currently the only soju on the market with a ‘crown cap,’ adding the fun of opening the cap to drink. Although it has been less than two months since its release, the response so far has been encouraging. "Seonyang was planned to cause a rebellion in the soju market. It stands out visually by breaking away from the traditional green bottle, and the alcohol content was dramatically lowered below 15 degrees. There were external concerns that lowering the alcohol content would cause a water-like smell, but we solved this by adding high-quality rice and barley distilled spirits aged long-term and applying a patented oxygen aging acceleration method to enhance flavor."

Seonyang is a product Mackis Company put great effort into, even staking the company’s fate on it. As nationwide large liquor companies aggressively target local markets, Seonyang, a liquor company in the Daejeon, Chungnam, and Sejong regions, has faced difficulties with declining market share year after year. Bringing back the old company name ‘Seonyang’ was also to overcome this crisis. They aim to differentiate by preserving the brand’s authenticity using the old name while adding trendy and stylish design elements to the product. "In fact, it’s not only the liquor industry where only the number one brand centered in Seoul survives. In such a situation, competing with large corporations without differentiation is a losing battle. To overcome the current crisis, we created Seonyang, differentiated in both taste and design, based on our 50 years of soju manufacturing expertise."

Chairman Cho is now looking toward overseas markets. His next step is entering the Myanmar market, with Mackis Company aiming to complete a factory there next year. "There has been no case of a Korean liquor company entering the ASEAN local market yet. We expect K-soju to gain popularity in ASEAN comparable to the Korean Wave, and we plan to target the Southeast Asian local market using Myanmar as a base. The story of ‘the runner’ from Korea will continue there as well. The donation system based on running will also continue there."