NOKDO, South Korea ¨C At 10 years old, Lyoo Chan-hee wishes he wasn¡¯t one of the last three schoolchildren left playing on the beaches of Nokdo island.
¡°It would be great if I have more friends here because I can have more options to play,¡± said Chan-hee. Instead, he often plays with Kim Si-young ¡ª aged 66, and one of the last 100 or so residents of a once-vibrant fishing village emblematic of the demographic crisis unfolding in South Korea.
¡°He (Kim) always calls me and shares whenever he is having something delicious,¡± Chan-hee said on a wind-blown day earlier this month as the pair shared grilled oysters.
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