Pavel-to-DMZ Place 1. APE Seoul
When walking along the street next to the Hyehwa-dong Rotary, the words “APE SEOUL” comes into sight. This place was inspired by the Italian word “APE”, which means bee. Though the theme of the store is “bee”, for a person more used to English than Italian, it can only be so that the movie “The Planet of the Apes” comes to mind. Putting this thought aside, looking at the peculiarly shaped beeswax and the various types of honey displayed from the entrance, one begins to feel that they might be stung by a bee today. Thankfully, that won’t happen, so there is no need to worry.
Ape Seoul is a shop that sells selected honey that has the story of the particular region, which it collects from all around Korea and the world. From what I tried, the cannele is scrumptious. Most of all, if you have any questions about honey, ask the owner. The owner, who is a honey sommelier, gives you expert knowledge on honey.
We will introduce “DMZ Honey”, which is the second edition of “The Land’s Portrait Series” developed by Lee Jae Hune of Ape Seoul, who runs the honey brand “IT’S HONEY!”
“The DMZ is one of the world’s rare “wilderness garden”, which humans have not been influenced by human hands for over sixty years. The honeybees of the DMZ fly freely over the 38th parallel, and sometimes bring in honey from the north. This honey, which embodies the scent of the land of both the North and South, is the portrait of the division of the North and South.”
Hoping one would get to indirectly experience the DMZ through honey, though we cannot go there ourselves, we are introducing Ape Seoul, Hyehwa-dong as the first travel place of the pavel-to-DMZ. While savoring the honey, lets imagine we are bees that are flying around the flower beds of the DMZ. As a bee, no one would care if we cross the DMZ and go to North Korea.
71–10, Hyehwa-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea / Closed on Tuesday / @ape_seoul
IT’S HONEY! https://itshoney.kr/
<Interview with Lee Jae Hune, the host of APE Seoul>
Interview space : APE Seoul / Interview start time : pm 2:23:02, 20 Aug 2020 / Age group : 40’s / Home Country : Republic of Korea
How do you describe yourself in this space?
Barista, bee farmer, honey sommelier, honey curator, a suggester, guide, CEO, friend. My job is a barista, bee farmer, and a honey sommelier who introduces the taste of honey. In my café, I talk about the atmosphere, props, items on sale, beverages and dessert, and I also raise bees on the rooftop of the building.
How do you describe your everyday life in this space?
Restless, adventurous, random, busy, adventurous, restless.
How do you describe the character of this space?
Bees, honey, bee farming, coffee, a nicely messed-up room, wabi-sabi.
Some said it was like a rest stop in the country. I hope it is nicely messed-up. I haven’t created it, but I have mocked the things I have seen repeatedly. There are many things I have mimicked after seeing Pinterest and Instagram accounts that the world’s bee farmers have, thinking they are cool. However, as time passes, those things change to fit this place. No matter the place, traces of the people who stay there naturally rub off after it is first created. Likewise, this place is naturally filled with these things.
How do you describe the mood of this space?
I once owned a coffee shop in the corner of a crowded intersection. It was really noisy. I didn’t know then that it was noisy. The normal sound there was really loud. Though in this place, even the sound of a car passing by is noisy, there, it was natural, since cars always passed right by it. Though I didn’t know it then, that was really tiring. This place is really a quiet neighborhood. There are small but inevitable sounds such as the sound of flowing sewage, the sound of cicadas, and the sound of the air conditioner. There is music playing inside too. If we go into the mountain, it would feel different there too.
When going on a package tour, one goes on a decided course, and when visiting a big city where one has never gone to before, one goes to places that are not unusual, after searching the internet. However, the moment when we bend the rule, we are able to look upon a whole new scenery. For instance, there are times when I feel good after finding a local store that only the local people go to when I visit a neighborhood. A place where it seems like I am the only person who knows it. Our goal for this place is to become such a place. Due to the recent change in trend, people visit even if the place is in a distant corner, as long as it is attractive.
An interesting person you met in this space?
For bee farmers, there are those who come and go quietly out of curiosity, and there are those who answer when I ask them questions. Since we are on Lonely Planet, sometimes foreigners who are in the bee farming or honey business come visit us.
There was an impressive person. Though one would normally speak to us gently, at least outwardly, they are always cold, like an angry person. However, though they look like they would never come back, they come back several times. Though I forget after sharing a few conversations, and realize that they has come back while talking to them on their next visit, and like that… on their last visit, they brought honey. They said shyly that they made it in their house in Sweden…. they also were bee farmers.
How do you look at the DMZ?
Should I say I’m a Romanticist.
The DMZ, in my eyes, is the ecosystem, mother nature, and the jungle, just as it is. Nature lives on fine by itself if humans don’t intervene. Actually, inside the Civilian Control Line, where we went to retrieve honey, is a place where humans can go. Even there, nature is flourishing, meaning there is a place deeper in the DMZ that is thriving even more. It would be great if the DMZ was designated as a nature preservation, so it would not be handled by civilians. Even if the relationship between North and South Korea improves, I hope the DMZ would be left as it is as a complete jungle of wilderness.
How was the beekeeping in the Civilian Control Line?
There were soldiers in the entrance, and inside, there were people farming. I had to get out before the sun sets. Though I went there on a slightly rainy day, I felt really refreshed.
Characteristic of DMZ Honey?
Tasting like dates, condensed sweetness, date palms, dried fig, dried dates, amber that is slightly thick and not clear, a clear yellow color. It is normally called multi-flower honey, and is randomly blended. Naturally.
The main nectar source is a foreign plant called Amorpha fruticosa, and it is estimated as one of the several plants making up the DMZ. It is a honey mixed with many things, and has a sweet taste that goes well with yogurt. It is a sweetness that is closer to yeot (Korean taffy) than juice. Kind of like caramel banana too….
If you eat honey from the DMZ, you eat honey from the nectar from the flowers in the DMZ. Honey actually embodies a lot of things. In fact, you can indirectly encounter that place, or many other things. Though it sounds like a childish dream, going to the tropical regions of Florida, eating oranges and mangoes, I hope one would be able to feel this fantasy through the honey from the DMZ. Thought it would be hard, it was a product made for this purpose.
The DMZ is actually not far from here. Closer to us than we expect. Foreigners are very interested in the DMZ. However, the story of the DMZ is nothing new to Koreans. Many people think of the military aspects of the DMZ rather than the natural aspects. This is a shame. I hope the stories of people, one by one, would be connected through the honey from the DMZ. It can start with “The DMZ is not dangerous.”
future plan of you?
I want to host an offline honey curation. Though it is hard due to the pandemic, I am starting a program where people can come and heat honey, recommend it, blend it, and mix and eat it.
Interview end time : pm 3:03, 20 Aug 2020
