April 12, 2024

 

I was born in January 1952, in the mountain valley of Sokkumi, Sineum-dong, Gimcheon City, in the midst of the Korean War as it neared a ceasefire. At the time, my parents fled their hometown, Yaksubgol (nicknamed "Aksutgol"), leaving behind my older sister and brother, carrying nothing but a single measure of rice. They settled in a rented one-room annex of a house in Gimcheon and soon after, I was born.

 

It was a time of extreme hardship. Food was scarce, and my mother, weakened by hunger, was unable to produce milk. To make ends meet, she sold rice cakes to refugees near Gimcheon Trainstation, often returning home late at night with an empty basket. I was constantly crying from hunger—what else could a newborn do? Thankfully, my sister, who had joined us shortly after my birth, carried me from house to house, begging for milk. That was how I survived. But how much milk could people spare? Just enough to keep me alive, but never enough to satisfy my hunger. So, crying all day long became my way of life.

 

It was a time when corpses of those who had starved to death could be found in alleys and streets. The fact that I survived on begged milk alone feels nothing short of a miracle. Perhaps due to that early malnutrition, my stomach never fully developed properly, and I suffered from chronic digestive issues throughout my childhood. My sister and brother, having been born and raised in our hometown before my parents fled, didn’t endure the same hardships. By the time my younger siblings were born, our family had found some stability, sparing them from such suffering. But I—the one born during the worst times—constantly faced near-death struggles in my infancy.

 

Yet, strangely, people around me perceive me as the most fortunate one. Maybe it’s because I bear the appearance of a privileged son, coupled with my academic credentials—an S University graduate—and my career, having been specially recognized at Samsung before being sent to its New York office within three years. It’s no surprise they assume I had an easy life.

 

But no one knows the trials I endured to achieve all of this. After failing my first college entrance exam, I moved to an unfamiliar city with no money, surviving on less than two meals a day while studying in a cramped reading room where I even slept. When I finally entered the prestigious S University that others envied, my tuition and living expenses were entirely unsupported. I spent my college years working as a private tutor and doing various side jobs, barely finding time to study. The financial strain took a severe toll on my health, and by my second year, my stomach was utterly ruined, forcing me to take a leave of absence.

 

At one point, my condition deteriorated so badly that I couldn’t digest any food for nearly six months, leaving me emaciated and hopeless. There were times when life seemed utterly devoid of hope. One night, I even climbed to the peak of Mt. Geumo in a raging storm, intending to end it all.  And yet, through all these struggles, God protected and guided me to where I am today. My life, if written into a book, would be a tale filled with trials, twists, and resilience.