YumYum Jeju, Founder Kang Eun Young

Kang Eun Young is the founder of YumYum Jeju, a company that makes jams using Jeju-grown produce. Fifteen years ago, she was intrigued by a commercial featuring Jeju’s Gyorae Forest with the message, "To those who have worked hard, leave." That curiosity led her to Jeju. Wanting to grow closer to the unfamiliar island, she began cooking with local ingredients from the market and sharing her recipes on her blog. In winter, she used tangerines and carrots; in spring, potatoes; in summer, pumpkins; and in autumn, buckwheat. Her blog, filled with seasonal Jeju ingredients and stories, gradually gained popularity and even helped her make friends on the island. Together with one of those friends, she started selling marmalade at a flea market, which eventually grew into YumYum Jeju. Now, for the past ten years, she has been making jam with Jeju-grown ingredients, always ready to welcome customers. Her biggest goal is to keep her shop running in the same place for the next ten, twenty years—or even longer.