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Korean War Survivor Sun Choe Celebrates 110th Birthday At Unique Senior Living Community

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MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (CBS) — For some elderly individuals, aging in comfort means aging in your native culture.

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For more than 40 Korean seniors in Mount Laurel, there is a carefully crafted community at the Laurel Brook Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center.

"I found that Koreans are suffering because of the language barrier, because of the cultural barrier in the American nursing home and they can't even communicate with caregivers," says John Sung the director of the Korean Community at Laurel Brook.

woman turns 110 years old
Credit: (CBS3)

There is a Korean bilingual staff here and all the food and leisure activities in the Korean wing of the facility are Korean.

One woman in particular here is thriving at an age few ever reach.

For her 110th birthday, Sun Choe from South Korea got a surprise party.

"I never thought about this kind of a big birthday party it was very surprise to me. I'm so so happy, I'm almost crying," Choe said through an interpreter to the those in attendance.

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A Korean War survivor, Choe still has a sense of humor, joking to her guests that she doesn't know how she'll pay for her party, and saying her secret to long life is simply being happy.

Choe joins a very exclusive group in New Jersey as one of just three super-centenarians.

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