SEOUL, South Korea — When Choi Soon-hwa steps onto the runways of South Korea’s Miss Universe competition on Sept. 30, she will be competing with beauties young enough to be her granddaughters.

For an 80-year-old to capture a place in the finals of an elite pageant in a nation obsessed with looks, overrun by plastic surgeries and swimming in cosmetics, is remarkable.

But Ms. Choi has had an even more remarkable backstory for the judges: Born during World War II and enduring the hardships of the Korean War, the retired nurse has tracked her country’s journey from poverty to prosperity, from authoritarianism to democracy, from zero to hero.

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In her case, the transition proved anything but smooth. A comfortable retirement loomed when fresh disaster struck and she lost nearly everything. Penniless, homeless, guilt-ridden, Ms. Choi descended into desperation — before a chance remark changed everything.

In person, she is the picture of elegance. She appeared for the interview dressed in an ivory trouser suit and white lace gloves that set off her shock of white hair, accessorized with understated gold earrings and gold-trimmed white sneakers.

But it is her personality that shines. Having battled through hell with flying colors she is upbeat, with that rare ability to laugh at herself.

“I was born and raised in a very tough time and I still have that resilience to fight, to survive my own battles. But the young generation has no idea,” she said. “When I say something sound, like, ’Be accountable for yourself,” the reaction is, ’Oh, you are becoming an old dodderer — that sounds hokey.’”

Troubled times

Born in 1943 under Japanese colonial rule in Masan, in South Korea’s southern region, Ms. Choi today resides in Incheon, Seoul’s port city. Professionally, she worked as both a nurse and a Christian pastor. Married, she divorced in her 40s, but has two children and three grandchildren.

So far, so conventional. But her life took a sharp turn sideways after she retired, at the age of 68.

“I lent a great deal of money to someone,” she said, someone who she said proved to be a con artist. Massively in debt, Ms. Choi lost all her money and her home. Worse, she had borrowed heavily from friends to fund the loan. Her daughter became entangled and lost her home as well.

Ms. Choi’s life imploded.

“Day and night, I was blamed by my own children, as they had insisted I not lend that much money — but I did,” she recalled. “I was frozen, silent, there was nothing I could say.”

She moved in with her son and restarted work as a free-lance care nurse, working seven days a week and often ministering to patients far younger than herself.

“I was very desperate, I was fully responsible for my children’s destitution,” she said. “The only thing I could do was make money and pay off my debts.”

According to the World Health Organization, South Korea has the world’s fourth highest per capita suicide rate, with the elderly most affected, but she says she dismissed the notion. “Thinking about suicide was a luxury,” she said.

Salvation came in 2014 via an unusual bit of advice from an unlikely patient: Christian evangelist pastor Shin Young-ja.

“Lying down, looking up at me, she asked me, ’Why don’t you become a model?’” Ms. Choi recalled. “Her remark hit me like a ray.”

Memories

During the Korean War, her grandmother had run a food stall next to the local cinema, and would sneak her granddaughter inside. The theater’s fare was old-school Hollywood features. Growing up amid destitution, depression and war, the then-tiny Ms. Choi was entranced by the beauty of the costumes and sets.

With a jolt, the pastor’s bedside advice brought it all back. “I was sparked,” she said. “Ignited!”

Today, she finds it almost hard to believe.

“I was pale and hopeless, with worries lingering in my mind, bad skin and just a nurse’s uniform,” she said. “I wonder to this day how she saw a model in me. … I feel there must have been something invisible, something divine.”

Unsure how to get started, she recalled an ad she had seen for a modeling institute on TV. Asking her colleagues to cover her work for a day, she wandered in. She was 72.

“I asked, them, ’How do I Iook?’ and they said, ’You can do it!’”

Ms. Choi took one day per week off nursing. The model training institute became her “center of the universe.”

Success did not come overnight. Money did not come easy. Ms. Shin encouraged her. “She said, “Wait and see. Things will develop,’” Ms. Choi said.

By 2018, she was a known face. In 2019, she earned the nickname, “Legend” doing magazine shoots for high-end brands –- shoes, dresses, coats, glasses — targeting the lucrative market of South Korea’s prosperous retirees.

Copycats sprang up. “It escalated,” she said. “Suddenly, I was a female trendsetter for senior models.”

She has ditched nursing, and now models full-time. Having paid back her debts, Ms. Choi is enjoying a late-life renaissance.

Octogenarian beauty queen

With senior poverty a burning social issue in South Korea, she uses her position as an octogenarian beauty queen to offer some advice.

“Absolutely the most important thing is how you think,” she said. “Most old people think, ’I am old and sick, I can’t do anything, I can’t do exercise, I can’t function as a healthy person.’ That shuts off all improvements and all potential.”

Despite her cast-iron spirit, she is no exercise fanatic: She credits her svelte physique down to daily stretching and a three-thrice-weekly 40-minute walk.

Defying the country’s cosmetic fanaticism, she says her glow is the product of minimalist skin-care regimens. “That will shock the cosmetics industry!” she laughs.

She largely eats Korean vegetarian dishes with a little fish and chicken, but swears by a with-every-meal condiment of garlic, marinated in water with perilla, soy, vinegar and a touch of sugar.

Having won through to Ms. Universe Korea’s round of 32 semifinalists, the ultimate prize is now in sight. With the global competition set for Nov. 16, South Korea’s representative will be chosen in a pageant on Sept. 30, just days before Ms. Choi’s 81st birthday on October 11.

Could judges select an octogenarian? It’s possible, but Ms. Choi is not worried if she is not the chosen one, and she has her eye on markets far beyond her home country.

“I saw a lot of nice models other than Koreans, and I want to explore and have adventures on global stages,” she said. “That was the idea — a Miss Universe can do this — but I have no worries about losing. I’ll find another opportunity to go global.”

Her manager, Yang Sun-mook of agency DQ Communications, is convinced she can serve as a model — in both senses — for seniors everywhere.

“She will inspire a lot of senior citizens,” he said. “She will accelerate a lot of moves by senior citizens and not only females — males, too!”

Inspiration is needed: South Korea is the world’s fastest-aging nation. According to OECD data, by 2025, it will be “super-aged,” with 20% of the country’s citizens 65 or older.

While Seoul mulls policies across all domains — political, social, economic, health care, education, housing — to reverse plummeting birth rates, Ms. Choi focuses on quality of life for silver citizens.

“Policy should push old people to find their youthful dreams,” she said. “Just one time before you die, find out what you really wanted to do in your young days — find your jewel! Then you will find an unlimited source of positive energy into which to put your stamina and health.”