hankyoreh

Hankyoreh reader Kim Jong-chae with his two sons

“I heard you recently gave your grandchildren some stock in the Hankyoreh. How many grandchildren do you have?” I asked Kim Jong-chae, 81, who called the stockholder hotline at the Hankyoreh on Nov. 22 to arrange a stock purchase.

Kim was only too happy to brag about his grandchildren: “My two boys and three girls have nine children between them, and all of them are now stockholders in the Hankyoreh. My youngest son’s five-month-old twin boys are probably the youngest stockholders in the company.” But when I asked Kim why he had bought stock for his grandchildren, his unexpected response was because of feelings of regret.

“I’ve been a loyal reader of the Hankyoreh since the newspaper’s first issue came out in May 1988. I also followed with interest as the newspaper was set up amid the fervor of the democracy protests in June 1987. But since I was a teacher at a public school, I always regretted missing out on that first chance to buy stock in the newspaper,” he said.

Born in Boseong County, South Jeolla Province, Kim lives in the Geumho neighborhood of Gwangju. He was a middle and high school English teacher from 1959 until 1999, when he decided to retire.

“I had always wanted to buy some stock, and I waited until 1996 or so when I first gave some stock as a birthday present for my daughter’s daughter, my first grandchild,” Kim said. When the Hankyoreh launched its “second founding campaign” in 2005, he gave his two grandsons (his oldest son’s children) some stock as well. This time, he has arranged to buy stock in the names of five more grandchildren: his youngest son’s two children and his second and third daughter’s three children, who are in elementary, middle school and high school.

“Watching the Hankyoreh’s determined investigation into the Choi Sun-sil scandal starting with the corruption at the Mir Foundation in early October, I started looking for ways to show my support. I hope that my small contribution has helped out,” he said.

“To be honest, when the Hankyoreh was first established there were quite a few people who were bothered by its extreme, biased positions, so I didn’t feel comfortable recommending that my friends subscribe. But now it has clearly taken its place as a progressive newspaper leading reform in South Korean society, and I wish that more readers and stockholders would work together to shape public opinion,” Kim added.

At first, Kim adamantly declined to allow the newspaper to carry his own story. “There are probably lots of readers and stockholders just like me, so I doubt my story would be anything special. The stock is hardly worth anything, anyway - I’d be embarrassed if rumors starting going around,” he said.

After politely declining several requests for interviews, Kim finally gave in after a reporter suggested that an article about the newspaper’s “youngest stockholders” would be a meaningful gift for his twin grandchildren.

Kim’s youngest son Han-tae, who lives in Gyeonggi Province, gladly agreed to his father’s plan to buy stock as a present for the newborn twins he finally had at the age of 41. “We were a Hankyoreh family from when I was young. We subscribed not only to the newspaper but also to the magazine,” Kim Han-tae said.

When asked if he had any final words for the Hankyoreh, the elder Kim shared the real reason he had given the stock to his grandchildren. “I hope that my children and grandchildren will live in a world that is definitely better than what we have today. I’ve put my trust in the future of the Hankyoreh,” he said.

By Kim Kyung-ae, senior staff writer

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]