Maybe it was the translation, but things seemed to be bleeding out
of the realm of quantifiable science and into a squigglier place. Was
the mysticism biasing the science and making it suspect, or was it
more like a portal allowing the scientists a point of entry where
Westerners don’t always feel comfortable? Or a little of both? I
wasn’t sure.
FOR THREE YEARS, Park had walked mindfully in these woods every
single day. “I’m one hundred percent sure it is helping me,” said the
ranger, who is in remission. “When I was first diagnosed, I had all
kinds of fear and anxiety. I am happy now. I have zero percent
anxiety. People learn from nature that they can heal. Now it is my
duty to be a bridge between nature and people.” He said he’s grateful
to the leukemia for redirecting his life. It’s hard to say, though,
what’s really helping Park and the many who flock to these places. Is
it the exercise? Park wears a bracelet that measures his steps. He
takes 15,000 a day, about 6 miles. He also believes the forest heals
him, and the power of belief is hard to overestimate.
It also may be contagious. Park is a compelling teacher who wants
to help other people turn away from stress and toward something
more meaningful than the punishing grind of work and study. He
doesn’t force his kids to attend the pervasive after-school schools—
called hagwons—that so many kids slouch off to, forgoing sports,
play and just goofing off. His oldest son now attends a “timber
school” for high school where he learns about forest management.
Park told me he thinks Korea has entered “Peak Stress.” It’s an
interesting idea. Flying out of poverty and through a series of
dictatorships to become one of the wealthiest democracies on the
planet, the nation now boasts the fourteenth-strongest economy in the
world. An incredible 98 percent of South Koreans graduate from
junior college or university, the highest rate in the world. But the
meteoric success has come at a great cost. South Koreans work 2,193