Retired Professor Kim Jong-wook of the Department of Animal Husbandry at Chungbuk National University passed away in August. We had been friends for more than 40 years. He was someone I admired very much.
  When I graduated from college in 1970 I had no idea that I would eventually spend four years of my life in Korea and that I would have many memorable experiences. In March, 1971 I arrived in Cheongju as a Peace Corps volunteer assigned to teach English at Chungbuk National College. I was 22 years old and not very knowledgeable about Korea, but by the time I left at the end of 1972 I knew quite a bit more about the Korean people, their history, and their culture. In addition, even though Korea was then a ‘developing country’ still coping with the aftermath of war, I could see that its people possessed the will and talent to make great progress. Professor Kim Jong-wook, to me, was representative of both traditional Korean culture and the Korean passion to advance.
  In addition to my regular classes with English Education majors, I was asked to hold late afternoon classes for faculty members. There were a half dozen or so professors from several different departments who attended regularly; Professor Kim was one of them. Their goal was to improve their English language skills so that they could pass the TOEFL exam, a prerequisite for graduate study in the U.S. and Canada. I really admired their dedication. At least four of the professors, including Professor Kim, went on to earn graduate degrees at foreign universities. They recognized that it was important not only for them but also for their school to have such credentials. It signified that Chungbuk National College was beginning to evolve from a provincial agricultural school to a full-fledged university.
  Learning a foreign language is not easy for most people, and the older a person is when he starts, the more difficult it is. Professor Kim was well into his thirties but he had the enthusiasm of a school boy. He faithfully completed the exercises in the textbook; he also read Readers Digest and Time magazine regularly and asked me to explain anything he didn’t understand. After a few months, he invited me to his house on Saturday afternoons so that I could watch an American college football game on television. Afterwards I would work with him on exercises to improve his comprehension skills. Somewhere along the way, ours became more than a teacher-student relationship. We became friends.
  I completed my Peace Corps assignment at the end of 1972 and returned home, not knowing when or if I would ever return to Korea. In those years before email, I stayed in touch with Professor Kim by ‘snail mail’‒usually an exchange of letters at the start of each year. We would tell each other what the other one was up to. I got married in 1974. He went to graduate school in Vancouver, Canada. In 1976 and 1986 I was able to return to Korea as part of a Peace Corps/Korea Reunion program. During my two-week stays I spent much of my time in Cheongju. Professor Kim always arranged for me to get together with the other faculty members who knew me.
  Professor Kim and I also went for long walks together‒just the two of us. He liked to take me to different parks in the area where we could walk vigorously and have an extended conversation about a wide range of topics. I learned a lot from him. Later we would return to his home and he would invite me to stay for dinner. His wife, who had prepared a mouth watering Korean repast, never joined us at the table. I saw her only briefly, when she brought the food.
  In 1987 I succeeded in becoming a foreign service officer with the U.S. Department of State and was lucky enough to be assigned to Seoul as my first overseas assignment. I let Professor Kim know right away and looked forward to seeing him again. He was very happy for me. During the time I worked at the American embassy, my wife and I visited Professor Kim in Cheong-ju several times. I invited him and a few other professors to my 40th birthday party and to a dinner party at my home in Yongsan. My wife and I spent the 1990 New Year’s holiday with Professor Kim. When we left Korea the following June I wondered again when we would see each other.
  It was five years later‒while I was assigned to the U.S. Consulate in Vladivostok‒that I was able to visit Korea again. There were direct flights to Seoul, and my wife and I used them to get some R&R (rest and recuperation) from the difficult challenges we faced in the Russian Far East. We divided our time between Seoul and Cheongju and always enjoyed getting together with Professor Kim.
  Every time I saw him he always informed me of what changes had taken place‒at the university, in Cheongju, and in the country‒and there were many. He managed to hold on to his traditional values while at the same time accepting much of modern Korean culture. Unlike many older persons, he was not intimidated by the internet and quickly adapted to staying in touch via email.
  After he retired, Professor Kim remained quite active, playing tennis and taking vigorous walks in the countryside. He also stayed intellectually active by reading a wide variety of books and articles and using the internet to research whatever he was interested in.
  The last time I saw him was on September 17, 2008, the day after my 60th birthday. Although one’s ‘hwangap’ is no longer a major milestone in Korea, I wanted to celebrate the occasion in Cheongju, with my former colleagues. I was working at the United Nations in New York at the time, but was able to use vacation time for a trip to Korea. Professor Yoo In Ho, once my student, took time out from his busy schedule, to help me arrange a dinner party on the 16th at a local restaurant.  I invited all my former colleagues and their wives and I was ecstatic that they all joined me.
  The next day Professor Kim met me for coffee and a last chat before I left. He gave me a parting gift‒a very elegant made-in-Korea necktie. He knew I was a bureaucrat who always wore a suit and tie. Did I mention that Professor Kim was also very practical? Every time I put that tie on, I think of him.
  Now that I am retired, I look to Professor Kim as a role model: proud of his country but recognizing it wasn’t perfect; proud of its culture and traditions but willing to change if it meant change for the better; proud of his family; thankful for his friends.
  It was my very good fortune to have known Professor Kim Jong-wook. He’s one of the reasons I will always have positive feeling for Korea.

By Michael Scanlon