Park Chang-deok revealed his story of transitioning from a funeral home CEO to an animal guardian on EBS's 'Seo Jang-hoon's Neighborhood Millionaire'.

Entered a Funeral Studies Program at 42... Turned the Lowest-Ranked Funeral Home into No. 1 in Sales in Three Years

Park Chang-deok previously ran a pharmaceutical wholesale business but faced difficulties after the 2000 separation of prescribing and dispensing of drugs. At his wife's urging, he enrolled in a funeral studies program at age 42 and worked as the general team leader at a large funeral home before graduating. He later acquired a funeral home that ranked lowest in regional sales and raised it to No. 1 in sales within three years.

The funeral home had a history in which all of its previous owners died at the age of 57. Coincidentally, Park Chang-deok was also 57 at the time of acquisition. He said his wife's advice and encouragement had a major influence on his decision.

"Listen to your wife well. Then you will succeed."

While running the funeral home, Park Chang-deok personally handled every part of the funeral process—from serving the deceased to attending to guests and cleaning the building—providing differentiated services. He left behind the words, "Listen to your wife well. Then you will succeed."

A New Life on a 7,000-Pyeong Garden with Six Abandoned Animals

After succeeding in the funeral home business, Park Chang-deok created a garden of about 7,000 pyeong, where he now lives with six companion animals. All of these animals had been abandoned by humans.

The list is as follows: meerkat 'Mong-i', Welsh Corgi 'Ttangkong-i', black-headed caique 'Byeol-i', former racehorse 'Bada', 'Dooly' who wandered after an experience center closed down, and miniature horse 'Dolkong-i' whose teeth were rotten. All six are living new lives under the protection of Park Chang-deok and his wife.

"Even with one billion or ten billion won... I'll enjoy the rest of my life"

On the broadcast, Park Chang-deok spoke about the meaning of life: "Watching people pass away without spending their one billion or ten billion won, I decided to live out the rest of my life enjoyably." When Seo Jang-hoon asked what people write in their wills, he answered, "Ten out of ten people say that if they were given one more chance to live, they would like to live happily while doing many good deeds."

EBS's 'Seo Jang-hoon's Neighborhood Millionaire' airs every Wednesday at 9:55 p.m., and can also be watched on OTT platforms such as Netflix and Wavve after broadcast.