South Korean wants to repay Filipino family’s kindness
STA. BARBARA, Pangasinan -- South Korean Park Duk Shin has a mission in the Philippines: to look for the family who sheltered his father during World War II.
His father, Park Sung Suk was a second lieutenant in the Japanese Imperial Army. Korea was under Japan at that time but the elder Park was a "deserter" who refused to fight alongside Japanese soldiers.
Park, 64, said when he was a boy, his father regaled him about his experiences in the Philippines and about a kind farming family who took care of him for three months after he deserted the Japanese army.
"He was fighting for the Japanese but he did not want to fight the Filipinos. So he decided to hide and that family took him in," said Park, a businessman who operates a language school at the Subic Bay Freeport.
Park had sketchy memories about what his father had told him. He said his father had failed to clarify whether the family was staying in Bataan or Zambales. But what was imprinted in his mind was his father's request before he died: "Look for that family and help it."
Park said his father wanted to repay the family's kindness.
Alternately speaking in halting English and through interpreter Tae Hoon Lee, Park said his father returned to South Korea in 1944 and became a successful businessman. He said his father died in the 1960s.
"Until his death, he kept repeating to me to go to the Philippines and look for that family. Or ‘If I won't do it, my son should do it,’" Park, who was 18 when his father died, said.
He said that of his father’s five children, he was singled out to undertake the mission because he would not have been born if his father did not survive the war and return to South Korea.
Park did not immediately come to the Philippines because he immersed himself in his own business in South Korea. But his father's voice kept returning. "Now I'm almost of retirement age so I decided to come to the Philippines to keep my promise," he said.
Park came here in 2000 and started looking for that family. But his six-year search bore no fruit. "Since I can't find the family, I am just helping Filipinos the best way I can," he said. He is supporting the education of 40 high school and college students in Zambales, all of whom were recommended by local officials and church leaders.
He said he has also established a foreign language school at the Subic Bay Freeport that employs Filipinos as English teachers.
He said he is planning to establish a golf course, also in Subic, where Filipinos could be tapped for employment.
Park, who is among the sponsors of a local cycling event, has established residence in the country. "[Filipinos] are very good people. The Philippines is a very good country. So I decided to stay here," he said.
By Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes - Inquirer Northern Luzon
His father, Park Sung Suk was a second lieutenant in the Japanese Imperial Army. Korea was under Japan at that time but the elder Park was a "deserter" who refused to fight alongside Japanese soldiers.
Park, 64, said when he was a boy, his father regaled him about his experiences in the Philippines and about a kind farming family who took care of him for three months after he deserted the Japanese army.
"He was fighting for the Japanese but he did not want to fight the Filipinos. So he decided to hide and that family took him in," said Park, a businessman who operates a language school at the Subic Bay Freeport.
Park had sketchy memories about what his father had told him. He said his father had failed to clarify whether the family was staying in Bataan or Zambales. But what was imprinted in his mind was his father's request before he died: "Look for that family and help it."
Park said his father wanted to repay the family's kindness.
Alternately speaking in halting English and through interpreter Tae Hoon Lee, Park said his father returned to South Korea in 1944 and became a successful businessman. He said his father died in the 1960s.
"Until his death, he kept repeating to me to go to the Philippines and look for that family. Or ‘If I won't do it, my son should do it,’" Park, who was 18 when his father died, said.
He said that of his father’s five children, he was singled out to undertake the mission because he would not have been born if his father did not survive the war and return to South Korea.
Park did not immediately come to the Philippines because he immersed himself in his own business in South Korea. But his father's voice kept returning. "Now I'm almost of retirement age so I decided to come to the Philippines to keep my promise," he said.
Park came here in 2000 and started looking for that family. But his six-year search bore no fruit. "Since I can't find the family, I am just helping Filipinos the best way I can," he said. He is supporting the education of 40 high school and college students in Zambales, all of whom were recommended by local officials and church leaders.
He said he has also established a foreign language school at the Subic Bay Freeport that employs Filipinos as English teachers.
He said he is planning to establish a golf course, also in Subic, where Filipinos could be tapped for employment.
Park, who is among the sponsors of a local cycling event, has established residence in the country. "[Filipinos] are very good people. The Philippines is a very good country. So I decided to stay here," he said.
By Yolanda Sotelo-Fuertes - Inquirer Northern Luzon
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
8:07 AM
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