Korean Actress to Fans: Don't Buy Stocks — Buy Land. Land Never Lies

South Korean veteran actress Seonwoo Yong-nyeo has surprised fans by revealing that she and her lifelong best friend, actress Jeon Won-joo, have been quietly co-owning more than 600 pyeong (approximately 1,980 square meters) of undeveloped mountain land in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province — for over 13 years.

In a recent episode of her popular YouTube channel "순풍 선우용여 (Sunpung Seonwoo Yong-nyeo)," the veteran actress took cameras along to visit the remote hillside plot in Yangsu-ri, Yangpyeong, for its first-ever on-screen appearance. The catch? There is no road leading to it. The land remains completely untouched — a wild mountain hillside with no access, no development, and an annual property tax bill of just 18,000 Korean won (roughly $13 USD).

And Seonwoo Yong-nyeo could not be more content about it.

"Land never lies," she told her viewers with a grin. "If you have money to spare, don't put it in stocks — buy land instead."

A 50-Year Friendship's Most Surprising Secret

The story behind the plot is as warm as any Korean drama subplot. Seonwoo Yong-nyeo and Jeon Won-joo have been friends for nearly half a century — a bond forged through decades of shared industry experiences, frequent travels, and now, co-owned real estate in the Korean countryside.

The two actresses jointly purchased adjacent plots in Yangsu-ri more than 13 years ago, during the Park Geun-hye administration era. Jeon Won-joo, now 85, bought 350 pyeong of hillside land immediately adjacent to Seonwoo Yong-nyeo's 250 pyeong. Together, the combined plot stretches over 600 pyeong — a generous expanse of untouched Korean mountain terrain that neither has yet been able to develop.

"She bought 350 pyeong and I bought 250," Seonwoo Yong-nyeo explained in the video, affectionate exasperation evident in her voice. "I had a smaller budget back then, so I couldn't match her." A rare moment of candor about the financial realities of a longtime friendship — and a reminder that even veteran entertainers navigate the same constraints as everyone else.

The original dream behind the purchase was characteristically romantic: Seonwoo Yong-nyeo had envisioned building a traditional Korean hanok — complete with ondol-heated floors — as a peaceful countryside retreat the two friends could share in their later years. But after the land purchase, her savings ran out. Construction plans were quietly shelved. The mountain has remained exactly as nature left it ever since.

"I bought the land and then had no money left to build anything," she said, laughing. "So I just left it alone."

The Reality of Owning Landlocked Land in Korea

Seonwoo Yong-nyeo's visit to the site brought an honest reckoning with the very real challenges of rural land ownership in Korea. The plot is currently classified as "maengji" — land with no road access, making it legally difficult to develop, build on, or fully utilize without first securing access rights from neighboring landowners or local authorities.

During her visit, she stopped by the Yangpyeong county office to inquire about the feasibility of establishing a road. The situation, she admitted, was partly a result of a missed opportunity years earlier. When a neighboring landowner had been building an access road, she had the chance to join the effort and create a shared entry path. She did not — and it has complicated things since.

"I should have joined in when the neighbor was building the road," she acknowledged. "But it seemed like too much trouble at the time." She then called Jeon Won-joo directly from the site, pressing her longtime friend to finally take an active interest in the land they co-own. "Won-joo unni has never even come to see the land," Seonwoo Yong-nyeo told the camera with mock indignation. "I do all the work — she doesn't cooperate at all."

Yet the frustration was entirely affectionate. "No matter how maddening she is," she added warmly, "she's still my Won-joo unni. I could never truly be angry with her."

Their Plan: Growing Old Side by Side

For all the logistical hurdles, the vision driving this investment has never changed. Seonwoo Yong-nyeo shared on camera the dream she has held for over a decade: to one day build homes on their adjacent plots — right next door to each other — and spend their remaining years in quiet companionship on that same Yangpyeong hillside.

"The plan has always been to build homes side by side and grow old together," she said, gazing out over the undeveloped land with unmistakable fondness. "There's no road yet. It's just an open field right now. But roads get built eventually."

Fan responses to the video were overwhelmingly warm. Comments flooded in: "A 50-year friendship is truly something remarkable," "Living next door to your best friend in old age is the dream so many of us have," and "I hope they get to build those houses soon." The shared aspiration clearly touched a chord with viewers who see in these two icons the kind of enduring, unconditional friendship that most people spend a lifetime searching for.

The video's description put it simply: "We visited the Yangsu-ri land we purchased more than ten years ago — beautiful land with clean air and stunning scenery where Won-joo unni and I plan to spend our twilight years together, just the two of us. There's no road yet — just wide open countryside. But a road will come eventually."

An Investment Philosophy Built on Patience

Beyond the friendship narrative, Seonwoo Yong-nyeo's frank and somewhat unconventional financial advice resonated far beyond her regular audience. In a social climate where stock investment apps dominate smartphones and market volatility keeps investors on edge, her measured, almost philosophical stance on real estate struck a nerve.

"I don't obsess over market prices," she said flatly. "If I like something, I buy it. That's the end of the analysis." She added a dry observation: "People who invest in stocks always look so exhausted. At the very least, you should have one piece of land somewhere — even if all you can do is pitch a tent on it."

Her annual property tax on the 250-pyeong mountain plot? 18,000 won per year — less than the cost of two cups of coffee in Seoul. For Seonwoo Yong-nyeo, that minimal carrying cost is precisely the point: a long-term, low-maintenance hold on tangible real estate that, unlike equities, "doesn't lie."

Her philosophy is not entirely at odds with broader trends. Real estate and urban planning analysts note that interest in suburban and rural land holdings has grown steadily among middle-aged and senior Koreans — particularly as a long-term retirement asset rather than a short-term speculative play. The appeal of what Seonwoo Yong-nyeo represents — a patient, relationship-anchored approach to land ownership — has found an increasingly receptive audience.

Two Legends of Korean Entertainment

For international fans less familiar with Korean entertainment history, both Seonwoo Yong-nyeo and Jeon Won-joo represent a generation of artists whose careers helped define the golden age of Korean film and television.

Seonwoo Yong-nyeo launched her career in the 1970s and has remained a constant presence in Korean film, television, and variety entertainment for over five decades. In recent years, she has found a second wind through her YouTube channel "순풍 선우용여," where candid episodes from her daily life — delivered with her signature wit, warmth, and complete absence of pretension — have earned her a devoted new generation of fans.

Jeon Won-joo, now 85, is equally celebrated — one of Korea's most beloved character actresses, whose fiery on-screen personality and formidable presence span six decades of screen history. The two women's friendship, approaching its own half-century mark, is legendary within Korean entertainment circles — a genuine bond in an industry not always known for them.

Watching these two icons — both well into their eighties — still making plans together, still bickering fondly over road access and county office visits, still dreaming of ondol-heated rooms on a hillside in Yangpyeong — is the kind of story that reminds audiences why Korean celebrity culture, at its best, resonates far beyond the screen.

Seonwoo Yong-nyeo's YouTube channel "순풍 선우용여" continues to attract viewers looking for honest, unfiltered slices of a life well lived. The 600 pyeong in Yangpyeong is still waiting for its road. But based on everything she's shared, it will be worth the wait.