#121 Unbreakable Ties

[스티븐스 대사]

I taught at Yesan Middle School as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the 1970s.  Since I returned to Korea as Ambassador, I have traveled to Yesan several times and, and thanks to modern communications (like blogs!) I’ve reconnected with many former students and colleagues. 

But even though I’ve been here for almost three years and met so many people from my past, I’m reminded that life is always full of surprises.  Like the letter I received a few weeks ago from a Colonel in the ROK Army who is stationed on the front lines of the DMZ in Gangwon Province.  He was a student of mine at Yesan Middle School, and when his wife spotted a photograph I had taken of him in 1976 posted on the U.S. Embassy website, he decided he had to contact me!

I have a vivid recollection of Colonel Lee Chul Won as a first-year middle school student.  He was very bright, hard-working and responsible. That’s why he was the class leader (반장).  The photograph gives you some idea of this – unlike some of the other students in the photo, he is sitting up straight and paying attention.    

This is the photo of Colonel Lee in middle school (on the right).

So I wasn’t completely surprised to hear that Lee Chul Won went on to gain admittance to the highly competitive Korean Military Academy and has already served a very full career in the Korean Army, including service in the Philippines, East Timor, and Iraq.  And he has participated in joint training with the U.S. Army in Texas and Hawaii.  In many ways, his career embodies the spirit of “Global Korea” that has transformed this country. 

So of course, when I received Lee Chul Won’s letter, I invited him to visit the Embassy.  We talked about his current posting, about his family, and of course about Yesan, where his parents still live.  Here’s a photo of the two of us – decades after we first met at Yesan Middle School – getting to know each other once again.   

It was great to see you again, Colonel Lee!

It’s another reminder that connections in Korea are forever.