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Chapter 1. From the worst slum in Seoul, Korea
I was born in one of the worst slums in Seoul, Korea, in 1957, four years after the end of the Korean War. The slum was located at the top of a small mountain in Seoul, but it has since been demolished and is now replaced by a forest. For about five years after I was born, my family and I lived in a military tent. My father was a construction site laborer, and my mother was a street vendor.
On a cold winter morning when I was about five years old, I opened my eyes and found my mother, my sister, and myself lying in a hospital bed. Earlier that dawn, my father had gone to work at a construction site but returned to our tent after finding no available work. Upon his return, he discovered that we had lost consciousness due to coal gas poisoning from the stove inside our tent. Seeking help from our neighbors, he carried us down from the mountain-top village and called an ambulance. We were rushed to the hospital emergency room, where we received treatment to remove the carbon monoxide from our bodies and regained consciousness. If my father had found work that day and hadn’t returned from the construction site, the three of us would have disappeared from this world. But God sent us back.
By surviving my first brush with death, my beloved one and only son was also able to come into this world in the future. My son, I have decided to write the story of my life to pass on to him – so that after I leave this world, traces of my existence remain in a corner of his memory. And with those memories as a foundation, I fervently hope he will come to understand my wishes for his life.
Chapter 30. A brief encounter with ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol
There is a Korean proverb that says, ‘Even brushing against someone’s collar is fate.’ I knew impeached ex-President Yoon Suk-yeol briefly. More specifically, I spent about three months with him just before he graduated from middle school. When I was in my third year of high school, I studied at a private neighborhood study room to prepare for the university entrance exam. About three months before the exam, a third-year middle school student named Yoon Suk-yeol appeared at the study room. He studied at the desk next to mine and often asked for my help with English and math. Over time, he became quite close to me, calling me ‘hyung’ (older brother) and occasionally sharing personal stories.
One memory that stands out: There was a girl from a neighboring school whom I frequently saw on my way to school, and I wanted to date her. So, I asked her out, but she rejected me. When I told Yoon Suk-yeol about it, he mentioned that she lived next door to him and offered to act as a bridge between us. However, I hesitated, and it never materialized.
Looking back now, Yoon Suk-yeol was warm-hearted and diligent, but he had a strong personality—he would get visibly upset if I teased him a little. Still, perhaps because I tutored him in his studies, he was always gentle with me. Since it happened so long ago, I don’t remember many more details. After I entered university, I didn’t see him again, but I later heard from others that three years later, he was admitted to Seoul National University’s law school.