Do you know the South Korean president who went to West Germany?

"Everyone, as I stand here before you, I feel deeply ashamed and my heart aches. As the President of South Korea, I question myself about what I have truly accomplished, placing my hand on my chest and deeply reflecting."

 

 

 

"I am the one responsible for bringing you here. In our homeland, we have nothing to sustain us, so you have come to this distant land to earn dollars."

 

 

"They enter these endless mines in this lonely countryside to dig coal.

Nurses, tending to German patients twice their size, are said to develop herniated discs in less than two years."

 

 

"Why should you have to endure this?

This is all because our country is not prosperous.

However, give me time and opportunity.

I will do my utmost to ensure that our descendants will not have to be sent to other countries like you. I promise to make this happen.

I will make it happen."

 

 

 

 

"Please lend us some money. Please lend money to Korea.
Like your country, Korea is fighting against communism.
To win against the communists, Korea must develop its economy.
We will definitely repay the money.
I do not know how to lie.
Our Korean people never lie.
Please lend us money to defeat the communists.
Please lend us money."


- President Park Chung-hee, in a meeting with the West German Chancellor -

 

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"Everyone, it is deeply moving to meet you here in this distant land.

I cannot express enough how hard it must be to work underground in this foreign country, so far from home.

People from various countries have come to work here at the invitation of the German government, and it is heartening to hear that Koreans are being praised as the best among them."

 

 

Sounds of sobbing could be heard from here and there.

President Park Chung-hee then began to speak impromptu, without looking at his prepared script.

 

 

"Miners and nurses,

I understand how difficult it must be to think of your families and homeland, but remember why each of you came to this distant foreign land. Let us work hard and honor our country's name."

 

 

"Even if we cannot achieve it in our lifetime, let us at least lay the foundation for prosperity like others."

President Park's speech could not continue.

The sound of sobbing began to grow louder.

President Park Chung-hee, forgetting his status as president, began to cry out loud.

First Lady Yuk Young-soo, the entourage, and even the West German president beside him wiped away their tears.

Eventually, the speech was completely halted at some point, and the hall turned into a sea of tears.

As they left the auditorium after the speech, miners who couldn't enter the hall clung to President Park and First Lady Yuk Young-soo, not letting them go.

 

 

"Where are you going, leaving us behind?"

"I want to go home."

"I miss my mother."

As President Park boarded the car to return to the hotel, still shedding tears, the West German President Lübke handed him a handkerchief and said,

"We will help you. The people of West Germany will help you."

 

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"At that time, our situation was like that of the poorest countries in Africa today. Who would meet with a delegation from an unheard-of poor country suddenly asking for a loan?"

 

 

"I pleaded with my mentor to help me meet the minister by explaining Korea's desperate situation, but he kept repeating that he couldn't help. Eventually, he even stopped welcoming me to his home. So, every morning at 6 AM, I would go to his house and wait until his wife came out. When I saw her, I would tearfully beg, 'Madam, please save me. Please help me meet the minister.'"

 

 

"Mr. Schmidt abruptly asked Director Baek, 'Aren't there many unemployed people in your country?'

Director Baek replied, 'So what?' The next day, Mr. Schmidt returned with a thick stack of documents.

 

 

'Right now, West Germany is short of miners to work in the coal mines. In most places, they have to dig 1,000 meters underground, and it's so hot that people are collapsing. Pakistani and Turkish workers have all run away. Could you possibly send about 5,000 people from Korea? We also need around 2,000 nursing aides. They have to do tough jobs like washing dead bodies, which Germans refuse to do. If you can send miners and nurses, we can use their wages as collateral to borrow money.'"

 

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"South Korea's unemployment rate was approaching 40%, and the per capita income was $79, far below that of the Philippines ($170) and Thailand ($260). This was a time when the balance of the Bank of Korea was less than $20 million."

 

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"We don't have a plane. Since West Germany is a wealthy country, could you provide us with a plane?" Everyone looked astonished.

The German officials stared at us for a while and then told us to go back. We thought it was impossible since we hadn't heard anything until three days before departure.

Then, just before leaving, we received a message that they would provide a plane. On December 3, 1964, a Lufthansa passenger plane (Boeing 707) en route to West Germany via Hong Kong changed its route and landed in Seoul. President Park boarded that plane to go to Germany.

It wasn't a presidential plane but a commercial flight that regular people used. President Park took 28 hours to reach German soil, traveling through Hong Kong, Bangkok, New Delhi, Karachi, Cairo, Rome, and Frankfurt to Cologne Airport.

President Park, who was 47 years old at the time, came from a poor country in the East and tearfully told the West German Chancellor, "Half of our people are starving to death." He continued, "Our soldiers do not lie. We will definitely repay the borrowed money. Please help us. All our people are unemployed. We want to create a miracle on the Rhine River as well." As I translated President Park's tearful words, I cried along with him.

"Our Korea, like West Germany, is threatened by communist countries. To defeat the communist countries, we must first live well. The reason I led the revolution was not for power. It was because of the crisis that South Korea could not revive due to political chaos and economic devastation. But we have no money. If you lend us money, we will definitely use it for national reconstruction."

 

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Mr. Jo, who was present at President Park's speech, said, "I still vividly remember the president saying, 'It is because our country and I are lacking that you have to come to this distant land and suffer.'"

He continued, "President Park came to Germany to borrow money. It was called a loan, but it was essentially begging. Germany provided five escort motorcycles for the president, but it looked quite humble. At that time, we were a pitiful president and a pitiful people."