Korean cooper crafts new vision with Scottish tradition

Inside a workshop, wooden shavings fly through the air as the rhythmic sound of hammering fills the room. For Jeon Chang-hyun, this demanding environment is where he finally found his true calling. Jeon, a graduate of Hongik University’s Department of Woodworking and Furniture Design and a former product developer at Hanssem, Korea’s largest furniture and home furnishing company, took an unusual path for a Korean craftsperson as he moved to Scotland to become an apprentice cooper. Now back in Korea, Jeon launched Wee Branch Cooperage in Yeongwol, Gangwon Province. The name combines the Scots word "wee," meaning small, with the English word "branch," symbolizing a small Scottish branch taking root in Korean soil to craft wood. "I wanted to do a job that felt entirely my own," Jeon told The Korea Times at a cafe in Seoul, Friday. "At a big company, I was doing meaningful work, but I was just a small piece of a huge project. During my university years, I was used to handling every stage of a project from concept to final creation. I realized I needed a craft where I could take full own