Kim Jung-han

Apgujeong handyman challenges city slicker life

By Kwaak Je-yup

Kim “Ikim” Jung-han is a handyman with a hole-in-the-wall shop on a commercial strip behind Dosan Park in the heart of the hip Apgujeong district in southern Seoul. You cannot miss all the luxury boutiques there, though you may just walk past Kim’s “Veranda” if you do not pay close attention because it is no more than two meters wide and 20 meters long.

Veranda and its owner challenge categorization or labeling. Once you step in, you see an old video camera, pieces of wood half-way to becoming furniture, glass Coke bottles and canvases with thread sewed onto them, among others.

He is supposed to work up some serious sweat cutting wood, but he is impeccably dressed, like a model straight out of GQ magazine.

Kim is actually living as tough a life as the next guy, earning his living through an irregular flow of carpentry jobs, but he has no regrets because he has always followed his heart and his urges. It is a path that many dream of but are too scared to take.

For two years, Kim has sold via his website and shop, made-to-order furniture, office and home supplies and anything that strikes his inspiration concerning wood.

Also on offer are those steel and canvas works whose only appropriate description is art. However, he does not give them precedence, though they often sell for a lot more. He simply does his work his way — putting his all in without any long-term plans.

“Once, during a renovation project, I had a wall that felt really empty; so I sketched something on a plaster board and hung it there,” said Kim, explaining how his “art” was born. “I just try new things, and I stumble upon new ideas.”

In this slapdash way, he somehow manages everything, even mixing fatherhood — he is a husband and father of two — with his penchant for clubbing. He attributes this ability to jumping in head first and working hard, which started from his childhood where he often made toys himself with scrap pieces of wood.

“People need to try making things with their bare hands,” he said. “It is a lesson bigger and better than any theories for me.”

It was the same when the then-high school graduate followed a music video director acquaintance to design sets for him.

“I don’t know how many times I had to take the sets apart and put them together again, and quickly, too,” he said, adding that the title should have read “handyman” instead.

His hands were not the only learning sponge absorbing all that came his way; his eye for detail and instinct for style are so honed that “Veranda” has attracted connoisseurs and celebrities, who pay him handsomely. A Busan customer once bought 8 million won worth of works only after seeing their pictures on his blog.

Looking sharp in a blue striped shirt and aquamarine trousers during the interview, it was hard to imagine him covered in paint, woodchips, or even working up a single drop of sweat. He said he wears his best clothes to work but would not divulge more about the tricks to his flawless style.

“Every moment counts for me. I don’t want to compromise,” he said. “I want to look good when I’m working.”

Success or failure, grand ideals and goals seemed irrelevant. He was like a perfectly-groomed lion, majestic and wild at once, living in the moment.

Looking at Kim with a saw in his right hand, a cigarette in his left, and perfectly fitting shirt and trousers, one could not help but feel envious of his je ne sais quoi.

The interview soon moved to a bar next door, whose owner he knew, of course. Even after downing several potent drinks, he still seemed relaxed, poised and most of all, in control.