Interest in wellness continues to grow, and the wellness market is expanding rapidly. Wellness has gone viral among people in their 20s and 30s, but perhaps those who truly experience and need wellness are people in their 50s and 60s.
The Global Senior Wellness Conference opens today in Wonju, Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province.
The event brings together innovative ideas and solutions for healthy, active lives among seniors, and offers opportunities to discuss what true wellness is and experience it firsthand.
We spoke with Lee Boram, CEO of Third Age, which held an international senior wellness conference last year and is doing so again this year, about her views on wellness and her business.
In the Age of AI, Recovery Takes Center Stage
Lee Boram, CEO of Third Age, is an entrepreneur who has made the third act of life her business.
She is a young entrepreneur, with many years to go before she becomes a senior herself.
But after her health deteriorated soon after she launched her business, she began to reconsider her own well-being. Her interest in wellness deepened, and she soon realized that aging with vitality and good health matters most.
After working in China, she returned to her hometown of Wonju and founded her company in 2021. Since last year, she has hosted the Global Senior Wellness Conference in Wonju. The theme of the second conference, taking place November 6 and 7 at Museum SAN and Oak Valley, is “Recovery and Healing in the Age of AI.” Healing News asked Third Age about its work and the conference’s goals. Here are the questions and answers.
Visiting 30 Care Facilities Led Her to Launch a Business
Q. What kind of company is Third Age?
A. I chose the name because I wanted the company to champion the third act of life. If we divide life into four stages, then in an era of longevity, it’s important to stay healthy through the third stage—the years after middle age. We’ve worked to connect people with the health services, food, jobs and content they need during that stage.
Q. What led you to start a business focused on seniors?
A. While working in China, I was assigned to research nursing homes in Japan, but I couldn’t travel there because of COVID. So I visited 30 nursing homes in Korea myself. Seeing those facilities firsthand led me to decide to start a business.
Q. You started by connecting people with jobs and have since moved into wellness.
A. With “a lifetime of work” as our motto, we first tried to connect people with jobs, but there were many practical challenges. There isn’t suitable work for everyone, and many people don’t want physically demanding jobs after retirement. So the question came back to health.
A Conference You Can Touch, Taste and Walk Through—not Just Listen To
Q. What is the Global Senior Wellness Conference?
A. At an academic conference, you may gain knowledge, but it can be difficult to apply it directly to daily life. That’s why we’ve combined talks with hands-on experiences. We believe that after hearing the theory, people need to touch, taste and walk so they can put at least some of it into practice when they get home. We’ve prepared opportunities to experience and fully appreciate meditation, food, aromatherapy and more.
Q. Why hold it in Wonju, Gangwon Province, rather than in the Seoul metropolitan area?
A. Of course, there are many good places in and around Seoul. But I felt that the region itself was essential if we wanted to make the most of nature, space and experience. After working overseas and returning home, I saw Gangwon Province’s air and trees differently. Because it has seen less development, its clean air and natural environment have been well preserved. Wonju may be somewhat far for visitors from overseas, but I thought it was the ideal place to make the most of the opportunity to experience and feel nature firsthand.
Oak Valley has well-maintained forest trails and clean air and water. Museum SAN is already a renowned destination in the arts and culture world, as well as in meditation circles. I think it will be a valuable opportunity to experience pristine nature and thoughtfully designed spaces, and to plan a new approach to personal wellness in your own way.
Last year, some team members were deeply moved by the stars pouring across the sky, and they still talk about it. We wanted to create a moment like that—an experience that stays with you for a long time.
Q. This year’s theme is “Recovery and Healing in the Age of AI.”
A. We live in an era when AI analyzes health data and even recommends exercise and lifestyle habits. The more technology advances, the more important it becomes to know how to restore our bodies and minds. I believe we need to learn how to recover before we learn how to live longer.
Building a Gangwon-Style Wellness Living Lab Rooted in Wonju, Then Expanding into a Global Event Across Korea
Q. Why make it an international event?
A. The wellness industry is growing rapidly overseas, and this trend will soon take hold in Korea in earnest. I want to grow the conference into an Omaha-style festival or a Davos-style event where participants from many countries can naturally connect.
Q. What are your plans for the future?
A. We plan to build a Gangwon-style wellness living lab based in Wonju that connects AI, wellness, tourism and healthy longevity, and to expand collaboration with companies, institutions and experts at home and abroad. The senior wellness market is poised for growth. It’s not an easy path, but I believe opportunities will open up if we keep moving forward, focused on its potential.
Q. Is there anything you’d like to say in closing?
A. The wellness industry is already growing explosively overseas, and Korea has already begun to ride that wave. I think it will grow quickly here, too, as Korea is experiencing the world’s fastest population aging. In the future, we plan to hold global events not only in Wonju but also in other regions, where participants from different countries can connect. I hope people will take an interest in the senior community and events Third Age is building, and join us in shaping the future of senior wellness.
In the end, if you’re not healthy, it doesn’t matter how many things you want to do—you can’t do them. So many people give up their health for success or money. I want to help people realize and experience what really matters.
Third Age website: https://kwellnessinkorea.com/theme/nero/shop/subpage/01.php
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