Mr.

Kim Koo is my Ko Neung-Seon

Dear Mr. Kim Koo,
My name is Chanha Kim. I am currently 14 years old and a freshman in high
school. I was born in South Korea and came to the United States when I was 6 months
old. For the past month, I read Kim Koo, Dreaming of a Beautiful Country and the
Baek Beom Ilji multiple times. It was extremely difficult, but my dad helped me the
first time and later on I was able to read it by myself with the help of a dictionary. I
was deeply moved by your life and sayings. I was most impressed by what you had to
say about culture.
Your life is really respectable, Mr. Kim Koo. First, the playful child Chang-ahm
(your name back then) was so similar to me a while ago in my own life that I had fun
learning about him. When you bought sweets with wooden spoons and stole money to
buy rice cakes, I broke my phone that I entreated my parents to buy me and did not
tell them for a several days. Another time, I sent so many text messages that the bill
was over 200 dollars. Just as the village boys beat Chang-ahm, one neighboring child
poured sand all over me. My enraged father sent me to the local Korean martial arts
school. I felt a bit of discrimination there, although it may not have been as bad as
what you have experienced growing up in poverty. One time, as I trained at the
martial arts school, several American adults saw me training hard, and said, Hes like
a monkey. Many people say that you did not appear very handsome because of
disease, I must have not appeared that pleasing to those adults, even without
illnesses. I became the youngest black belt at the school when I was in 6th grade and
began to teach both younger and older students.
As you matured, you began to study. After you later gave up the civil exam and
sought to become a kind-hearted person, you became Dong-Hak (East-Learning)
Movement Leader Kim Chang-Soo. When you were betrayed by the movement, you
found Mr. Ko Neung-Seon and learned how to become a kind hearted person through

judgement, trial, and continuation. I know how to golf and am part of The First Tee,
a program in the US that teaches nine core values of life to young children through
golf. They are: honesty, integrity, sportsmanship, respect, confidence, responsibility,
perseverance, courtesy, judgement. I was pleased to find that my last value
judgement coincidentally is your first value. I now added trial and continuation
to my list of values to create a total of 11 important values.
After you, Mr. Kim Koo, assassinated Japanese spy Tsuchida and escaped from
imprisonment, you traveled to China and worked for Korean independence. The fact
that you were imprisoned twice and each time you educated the other prisoners to
have national pride is very moving. You changed your name two more times to Mr. Kim
Koo and created your pen-name Baek Beom. I agree with your belief that ordinary
people must involve themselves in the independence movement to create a truly
independent country. After liberation from Japan and the country split into North and
south, you were determined on reunification. You later passed away while working for
this caused. Your death was just as unfortunate as that of the United States Martin
Luther King Jr., who worked for civil rights. I am extremely upset and angry that
someone as intelligent as you passed away. Many things would have changed if you
only had not passed away back then.
Now, I will tell you about my thoughts on your sayings about culture.
The one thing I seek in infinite quantity is the power of a highly developed
culture. This is because the power of culture brings happiness and meaning to our
lives and, by extension, to the lives of others. I would not wish our country to
become that imitates others. Rather, I wish our nation to rise to attain a highly
developed culture and become the source, object, and model of civilization for the
world. I wish that the ideal of true world peace may be actualized in our nation and
spread throughout the world thanks to our nation. I am convinced that with the
strength of our people, and, in particular, by the power of education, we can achieve
this goal.

Almost 65 years ago, you were already looking towards the future of our
culture. What you have stated about culture reminded me of the Indian King Asoka,
who I learned about during history class. King Asoka was a king who used brute force
to conquer other countries; however, he later saw that this was not the right way and
decided to use peace and culture to achieve world peace. Thus, he even sent letters
to Rome and China. But his wishes for world peace did not become true. The world
just was not ready yet. I agree with your statement that culture must be created
alongside education to achieve world peace.
However, things are now changing. Just as you foresaw, Korea has become a
cultural power that is being accepted by the world. Except for North Korea.
Mr. Kim Koo, unfortunately, Korea is still split into two. But South Korea has greatly
developed their cultural power, just as you wished for. In fact, a Korean wave has
encased the globe. I believe that this type of highly developed culture will help pave
the way towards reunification. A few years ago, North Korean defectors in the South
annually sent large helium balloons to the North. These balloons carry the Souths
dramas, music albums, movies and others, following the wind. The point of this is to
show the Souths culture and there by enlighten the Norths residents of their
situation. The power of culture will definitely help prepare the North and South for
reunification.
Korean culture has also reached out to me. I was living as an ordinary Asian boy
since coming to the United States. Because I came here when I was so little, I did not
really have a Korean identity. But miraculously the power of Korean culture came to
me. One day in 2009. When my family changed the television in 2009, the Korean KBS
channel suddenly appeared. I began to watch Korean drama since then, and also
began to learn about Koreas history and lifestyle through them.
Beginning in 2011, I learned how to play the jang-goo (an hour-glass shaped
drum) at my Korean schools percussion group. I also began to learn how to the
taepyeongso (a double-reed trumpet) on my own. One day, the Korean school

principal informed me that there was a taepyeongso master at Stanford University. We

decided that I take one lesson from her in order to learn the basics of the
taepyeongso. I soon came to know that that person was the hyang piri (a saxophonelike oboe) master, Ms. Jin Yun-kyung, who came from Korea, so I began learning how
to play traditional Korean folk songs on the piri from her. Ms. Jin taught me, who
traveled five hours to get there every two weeks, to the best of her capability for four
months. Because of that, I became adept at playing the piri and now play at various
festivities. Last December, when I was awarded second place for my thesis paper on
Dokdo Island, I played hollo arirang on the piri at the awards ceremony. When I first
began learning the piri, the Korean school principal and my dad explained the han
(suppressed feeling) and heung (positive energy) that exists in every Korean. I did
not understand it well in the beginning, but as I played the piri more and more, I
began to experience what the two were. The power of Korean culture is changing an
ordinary Asian child like me. I am now proud to say that I am a Korean-American. As I
play the piri in the future, I will think about Korean Culture and you, Mr. Kim Koo.
Mr. Kim Koo. I am still very young. And I am not very sure what I want to do in
the future. Yet, whatever I do, I want to work hard and succeed, and hopefully work
for South Korea and the globe some, while loving and protecting the Korean culture.
Mr. Kim Koo. I have one thing that I envy most about you. That is that you had a
life-long teacher such as Mr. Ko Neung-seon when you were younger. I have had many
great teachers at school, but I have not had any life-long teachers yet. But as I read
the book multiple times and thought carefully, I, too, have found a life-long teacher.
You, Mr. Kim Koo, are my life-long teacher now. I will do my best in everything, just as
your teachings have taught me, and live as a kind-hearted person. Please look after
me!
From a small town in Monterey, California, USA,
Chanha Kim