By Nam Sang-so
While the whole country was in a festive mood after the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, a healthy boy was born of a Korean emigrant at Hirano District in Osaka, Japan.
The father, a ranch hand, named his third son Akihiro in Japanese or Myung-bak in Korean, meaning bright and know-well. The boy's mother was a Christian who taught her children the importance of being honest.
When the Pacific War ended in August 1945, the Lee family, barely surviving American B-29 bombings, decided to return to Korea, boarding a small smuggler ship in October. The family was composed now of four boys and three girls. The boat was shipwrecked off Tsushima Island on its way to Korea, and they survived but lost all their belongings.
When Akihiro was born in 1941, I was in the second grade at Nishiawaji elementary school, not far from Hirano District. My parents too had emigrated to Japan in 1929 and my father and Akihiro's father being Koreans might have known each other.
In Korea most people in 1945 and 1946 suffered severe famine and the Lee family in Heunghae Village, now Pohang City, was no exception. Myung-bak was unable to go to high school due to a lack of money and he had to help his parents' peddling jobs. The boy was smart and attended a night school, graduating at the top of his class.
The Lee family moved to Itaewon, south of Seoul, but the financial situation did not improve: while Myung-bak's mother sold fish at the street corner, the boy worked as a street cleaner to help feed his extremely poor family. The boy out of despair in dire poverty went to the Han River Bridge to end his life more than once.
Having lived his youth in a vicious circle of indigence, a rebel spirit gradually grew up in his heart. And being elected as president of the student council of the Business College at Korea University, he led student demonstrations against the Park Chung-hee government's push for a basic treaty with Japan in 1964. He was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison suspended for three years.
In 1965 Chung Ju-yung, president of Hyundai Engineering & Construction, hired Lee Myung-bak and after noticing his honesty and enthusiasm in his work, he offered him the chairs of the president and chairmanship of the company. When he shook my hand at an international building exposition held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, I thought he would crush my finger bones.
The young energetic Lee had marched up the road to success, becoming a lawmaker and then Seoul mayor. He was elected president on Dec. 19, 2007.
When one conquers the summit, he has only a downward slope. But it is a great pity that prosecutors are grilling him over allegations that he committed wrongdoings such as taking bribes, embezzlement, abuse of power and tax evasion while in office. If he were found guilty of such irregularities, it could defame his past achievements.
Where did this honest construction engineer go wrong? I hope he won't tumble down the hill. I voted for him and I liked him.
The writer (sangsonam@gmail.com) is a retired architect/engineer.
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The father, a ranch hand, named his third son Akihiro in Japanese or Myung-bak in Korean, meaning bright and know-well. The boy's mother was a Christian who taught her children the importance of being honest.
When the Pacific War ended in August 1945, the Lee family, barely surviving American B-29 bombings, decided to return to Korea, boarding a small smuggler ship in October. The family was composed now of four boys and three girls. The boat was shipwrecked off Tsushima Island on its way to Korea, and they survived but lost all their belongings.
When Akihiro was born in 1941, I was in the second grade at Nishiawaji elementary school, not far from Hirano District. My parents too had emigrated to Japan in 1929 and my father and Akihiro's father being Koreans might have known each other.
In Korea most people in 1945 and 1946 suffered severe famine and the Lee family in Heunghae Village, now Pohang City, was no exception. Myung-bak was unable to go to high school due to a lack of money and he had to help his parents' peddling jobs. The boy was smart and attended a night school, graduating at the top of his class.
The Lee family moved to Itaewon, south of Seoul, but the financial situation did not improve: while Myung-bak's mother sold fish at the street corner, the boy worked as a street cleaner to help feed his extremely poor family. The boy out of despair in dire poverty went to the Han River Bridge to end his life more than once.
Having lived his youth in a vicious circle of indigence, a rebel spirit gradually grew up in his heart. And being elected as president of the student council of the Business College at Korea University, he led student demonstrations against the Park Chung-hee government's push for a basic treaty with Japan in 1964. He was arrested and sentenced to two years in prison suspended for three years.
In 1965 Chung Ju-yung, president of Hyundai Engineering & Construction, hired Lee Myung-bak and after noticing his honesty and enthusiasm in his work, he offered him the chairs of the president and chairmanship of the company. When he shook my hand at an international building exposition held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, I thought he would crush my finger bones.
The young energetic Lee had marched up the road to success, becoming a lawmaker and then Seoul mayor. He was elected president on Dec. 19, 2007.
When one conquers the summit, he has only a downward slope. But it is a great pity that prosecutors are grilling him over allegations that he committed wrongdoings such as taking bribes, embezzlement, abuse of power and tax evasion while in office. If he were found guilty of such irregularities, it could defame his past achievements.
Where did this honest construction engineer go wrong? I hope he won't tumble down the hill. I voted for him and I liked him.
The writer (sangsonam@gmail.com) is a retired architect/engineer.
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