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Dr. He-Young Kimm, 1954
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He-Young Kimm was born in Su Won County near Seoul, Korea in
1940 to a family who traditionally emphasized the pen and the
sword. Due to the family's genealogy and the great number of physical
hardships that his ancestors had suffered, Dr. Kimm's parents
stressed the importance of not just education but also the rigorous
traditional capability to fight and preserve life. This was the
environment and philosophy that has influenced him throughout
his life.
When Dr. Kimm was 5 years old his father sent him to Suh Dang
(a private school) to study 1000 Chinese characters who was considered
to be socially requited of a gentleman's son. Dr. Kimm says that
he can still recall that classroom as if he were there only last
week. There were seven students in his class and his teacher,
Chang Haksoon. The classroom rules were very strict. The students
had to sit around the teacher in a kneeling position on the hard
floor all day. Dr. Kimm recalls that the teacher had a long bamboo
smoking pipe that was fashioned on one end with a brass knob.
When the students were not prepared with their homework, did not
know the lesson, did not respond well or fell asleep in class,
the brass knob on the end of the smoking pipe was used to strike
them on their heads. It was not unusual to have two or three knots
on their heads at the end of a bad day.
Dr. Kimm graduated Suh Dang and entered Japanese Grammar School
in February of 1945. This school was better than the private school
because Dr. Kimm had a chair and was not required to sit around
the teacher. Changing schools did not change the discipline requirements.
Dr. Kimm's first grand teacher was a Japanese woman and it was
forbidden to speak Korean in class. The students were forced to
speak Japanese instead of their native language due to the occupation
of Korea by the Japanese. Any wrong doing in school was met with
immediate punishment. The most common being to have to kneel in
the snow until it melted and soaked through the clothing. This
caused severe pain in the knee joints and the students who were
subjected to this punishment often could not move properly for
some time.
On August 15, 1945, Korea was liberated from Japan. American
troops landed in South Korea to receive the surrender of the Japanese
army. Americans set up the Military Government until 1948 and
helped establish a combination of the traditional Korean and the
American educational system. This was the first time that Dr.
Kimm learned of the heroics of George Washington against the British
for independence and the emancipation of the slaves by Abraham
Lincoln.
On June 25m 1950, the North Korean troops, with aid from the
Russian Communist party, invaded South Korea. The North Korean
troops occupied virtually all of South Korea. All students were
forced to attend communist schools. Education emphasized emotional
appeal and systematic propaganda about the merits of communism
and the leadership of the North Korean leader, Kim Il-sung. The
United Nations troops also joined the South Korean side and fought
against the North Korean troops. However, there was a rumor that
the UN troops would soon have to retreat to Japan. It was General
Douglas MacArthur's landing at Inchon Harbor and crossing the
38th Parallel into North Korea that changed the whole picture
of the war. Afterwards, Dr. Kimm and the other students were then
allowed to return to the South Korean school system.
In Korea a successful man is defined by three criteria: 1) You
must come from a good family background. 2) You must come from
the right geographical area. 3) You must graduate from the right
high school and university. This has been a long tradition in
the Korean culture. After receiving the proper education, you
required proper connections for your future. This connection comes
from people of the same blood lines, people who came from the
same geographical area, and also from people who graduated from
the same high school and university. Without these connections,
it is very difficult to become a successful man in Korea. This
tradition is still a very dominant factor in Korea even today.
Dr. Kimm knew that in order to become a successful man, he had
to enroll in the best public high school in Seoul. He took the
Entrance Examination for East Seoul High School. In 1953, he was
admitted into east Seoul Junior High School as a freshman. Besides
his educational studies, Dr. Kimm trained parallel bar, Yudo,
and Bi Sool (style of self-defense).
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