SEOUL — On November 26, 2011 the regular hiking meeting organized by the Korean Miraesotong Forum, brought together about 200 members including Kim Moon-soo, the Governor of Gyeonggi Province; Dr. Yang Jae-soo, the advisor to the governor of the province in information and communications; Lim Joo-hwan, the former president of ETRI; Monica Chung, the publisher of Korea IT Times, and the Reverend Seo Gyeong-seok. They gathered at the foot of Seoul’s Acha Mountain.
After hiking, Governor Kim gave a lecture at the Buddhist temple, Yeongwhasa, on Mt. Acha for the members of Saesang Mandeulgi, a group led by Reverend Seo. He said, “I am happy to meet all of you who participated in KMF and Saesang Mandeulgi. The FTA is causing a stir in Korea at the moment, and there are two ways for the country to operate: one is to live quietly with a closed door like North Korea and another is to completely open up and depend on exports.
“I myself was a nationalist who was against the U.S. until the age of 44, but the anti-American beliefs that I had at that
time were extreme and exclusive nationalism, and in conclusion I was too narrow-minded,” he said and added, “I regret that the reason Korean people are opposed to the FTA between South Korea and the U.S. is based on a profound distrust in Korean politics and an anti-American sentiment rather than the advantages and disadvantages of the FTA.”
He said that he entered Seoul National University with the intention to “cast light on the world” and participated in leftist student movements against the government, for which he spent two and a half years in prison and was tortured with water and electricity. At that time, Mr. Kim said, he only wanted to live until he reached 40 years old, but finally grew up at 44 and now is over 60.
It was the U.S. and the Soviet Union that separated Korea into North and South in 1950. However, it was the U.S. who made South Korea a rich country with high technology. Korea’s Hyundai and Kia Motors ranked among the top in the U.S. car market last year, and both of these Korean automobile makers are number one in sales in the Chinese market as well, Mr. Kim said.
He noted brains, diligence, high education levels, wit, and manual skills are five strong points of the Korean people. Korean medical technology boasts world-class quality with a low price, and especially, he said, the highly developed cosmetic surgery turns many women around the world into Cleopatras.
Later, when the attendants asked him about his entry into the presidential race, Governor Kim said, “although An Cheol-soo, who recently has been rising rapidly, is greatly supported and admired among the young voters, he has little experience and organization to lead the country. On the other hand I have experience and policies but no support from the voters.”
