Bringing Korea to the K-12 Classrooms:

Famous Koreans/Korean Americans

National Korean Studies Seminar

Copyright 2014Sung Kim and Mary Connor

Famous Koreans & Korean Americans

Military Naval Admiral

Yi, Sun-shinWorld War II Hero

Kim, Young OkAtheletes Olympic gold medalist

Sohn, Ki-jungOlympic gold medalist

Sammy Lee

Patriot Nobel Prize Awardee

Kim, Dae-jungPatriot & Educator

Ahn, Chang Ho

Politician International Diplomat

Ban, Ki-moonWashington State senator

Paull Shin

Category Korean Korean American

Yi, Soon-shin: Naval heroYi Sun-shin (April 28, 1545 – December 16, 1598), was a Korean naval leader noted for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Japanese invasions of Korea (Imjinwaeran) (1592-1598) during the Joseon Dynasty.

Armoured warship-Turtle Ship

1. Admiral Yi led the victories as the Commander of Combined Fleets of the Korean Naval fleet during Japan's April 1592 invasion.

2. He is also known for his innovative use of the turtle ship ( 거북선 ), the world's first armoured warship.

Turtle Ship

Diagram of Turtle Ship

World famous admiral1. He is reputed to be one of

the few admirals to have been victorious in every naval battle (at least 23) that he commanded.

2. Some historians have compared his military exploits to other well known admirals such as Lord Horatio Nelson (also killed in combat) or Sir Francis Drake.

Young Ok Kim, Hero of Korean War & World War II

1. Government Awards Highest Military Honor To Kim Young-ok, Retired U.S. Colonel

2. On September 30, 2005 Korean President Roh Moo-hyun approved a Cabinet decision to confer the nation’s highest military honor, the Order of Military Merit, Taegeuk, on Mr. Kim Young-ok, a retired U.S. Army Colonel of Korean descent.

Young Ok Kim1. Colonel Kim, who is 86 years old

and now resides in Los Angeles, fought both in the Korean War and World War II.

2. The Order of Military Merit, Taegeuk, is reserved for those war heroes who risked their lives in action.

3. During World War II, he received prominent military orders from Italy twice in 1944 and 1945 in recognition of his contribution to the recapture of Rome.

Young Ok Kim

1. The French government also conferred him in 1951 and an order of military merit the Legion of Honor, France’s highest order early this year.

2. His name is inscribed on the church wall in the village he helped free, and the village elders still remember him vividly as a hero who gave them back their freedom.

Young Ok Kim-Korean American Community Leader

1. Since retiring from the military, Mr. Kim has volunteered his service for the Korean American community.

2. In 2000, he visited Korea as a member of the U.S. Department of Defense fact-finding team on the Nogeun-ri incident that happened during the Korean War.

3. In 2003, Mr. Kim was awarded the Order of Civil Merit, Moran Medal, by the Korean Government.

Ki-jung Son, Marathon Gold Medalist 1. “I wanted the world to know

that I am a Korean by winning the Olympics”

2. Son Ki-jung (1912-2002), Olympic Gold medalist, 1936 marathon, Berlin passed away in November 16, 2002 in Seoul, Korea.

3. He was a Korean athlete during Japan’s colonial occupation.

A Victory is a Sorrow1. The sportsman was a national

hero who gave hope to the people in the dark days of the 1910-1945 Japanese colonial rule by winning the gold medal in 2:29:19, an Olympic record at that time.

2. When the Japanese national anthem was being played during the award ceremony, Son shed tears with his head bowed.

Ki-jung Son, National Hero1. Son did more than the

independence fighters. His victory was as worthy as the independence movement. After the race, he wrote his Korean name and the name of his country, Korea, in the visitor's book for state guests of Germany.

2. He was not just an athlete, but also a national hero whom all Koreans will always respect. His accomplishment was second to none.

Sammy Lee, Korean American Diver

1. Dr. Sammy Lee was born August 1, 1920 in Fresno, California.

2. He is the first Korean American to win an Olympic (1948, 1952) gold medals for the United States and the first man to win back-to-back gold medals in Olympic platform diving.

Sammy Lee, Olympic Gold Medalist

1. Lee also won second gold medal in springboard diving in the 1952 Olympic.

2. The victory brought him the 1953 Sullivan Award as the nation's outstanding amateur athlete.

3. He is a member of the US Olympic Hall of Fame.

Dr. Sammy Lee

1. As an student athlete, he studied medicine at the University of Southern California.

2. He was a doctor in the U. S. Army Medical Corps when he won his first gold medal in the 1948 Olympics.

Sammy Lee, Great Coach1. As a specialist in ear diseases, Lee

was a fine coach who produced a number of champions.

2. Among them was Bob Webster, who became the second diver to win two gold medals in the platform event.

3. Lee coached the 1960 U. S. Olympic diving team and the 1964 Japanese and Korean teams.

4. Lee coached Greg Louganis who won twice gold medal in 1984, 1988 Olympics. Greg Louganis

Kim, Dae-jung-Nobel Peace Prize1. The Nobel Peace Prize

Award Ceremony at the Oslo City Hall, 2000.

2. South Korean President Kim Dae Jung gives his Nobel Lecture after accepting the 2000 Nobel Peace Prize.

Kim, Dae-jung-Korea’s 8th president

1. In December 1997, he was elected to the presidency.

2. When he was inaugurated as the eighth President of the Republic of Korea, it marked the first transition of power from the ruling to the opposition party in Korea's modern history.

Dosan’s family in Riverside1. Dosan Ahn, Chang-ho

arrived in America in September, 1902, with his newlywed wife, Lee Hae-Ryon (Helen Ahn).

2. Dosan and his family settled in Riverside, California, in March, 1904, and worked tirelessly to unite Korean Americans and to revive the patriotic spirit of the Korean people.

Dosan Ahn, Chang-ho1. In 1907, during the Japanese

occupation of the Korea peninsula, Ahn Chang-Ho came back to Korea to establish the Sinminhoe (New People's Society), a secret independence group in Pyong-An Province.

2. The purpose of this group was to inspire the Korean people and concentrate on enlightening and promoting unity among them.

The Patriot Dosan Ahn Chang-Ho

1. In 1919 Dosan went to China in the wake of the March First Independence Movement.

2. He was dedicated to establishing and developing the Shanghai Provisional Government through the National Representatives Conference.

3. Dosan was dedicated in promoting the recovery of Korean independence through nationalism, education, business and culture.

Role model of Korean Americans1. Through his work, Ahn

Chang-ho had an enormously beneficial impact and significance on the history of modern Korea and Korean Americans.

2. Dosan's philosophy and teachings serve as a model for Korean American youths.

Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations

1. Ban Ki-moon was born in June 13, 1944 in Eumseong, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea.

2. Ban was the Foreign Minister of South Korea from January 2004 to November 1, 2006.

8th Secretary-General ofThe United Nations

Ban Ki-moon1. He was elected to be

the eighth Secretary-General by the United Nations Assembly and was sworn in on December 14, 2006.

2. He succeeded Kofi Annan as the Secretary-General of the UN on January 1, 2007.

Ban Ki-moon

• At the ministerial-level meeting on Iraq in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt in May 4, 2007, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has hailed the world body's peacekeeping achievements while urging further reforms to allow operations to meet the challenges ahead.

Paull Shin-Washington Senator

1. Paull Shin (Shin, Ho Bom, 신호범 ) (1935 - ) is a senator of the Washington state, the first Korean American ever elected to the Washington State Legislature.

2. He is a member of the Democratic Party.

Orphan in Korean War1. Shin was born in Korea in 1935.

Orphaned at the age of four, he lived on the streets of Seoul begging for food until the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, at which point he became a houseboy to a group of U.S. army officers.

2. In 1954, a dentist named Ray Paull, adopted Shin and took him home to salt Lake City, Utah.

Paull Shin

1. Despite never having been educated in Korea, and knowing little English, Shin completed a GED in 18 months. Shin went on to earn a BA in political science from Brigham Young University, an MPIA from the University of Pittsburgh, and an MA and PhD from the University of Washington.

2. After being elected to the Washington State House of Representatives in 1992, Shin ran for the United States House of representatives in 1994 and for Washington lieutenant governor in 1996, losing by a thin margin in each race. He was elected to the Washington State Senate in 1998.

Paull Shin

• Senator Shin currently serves on the Senate committees for International Trade & Economic Development (Chair), Agriculture & Rural Economic Development (Vice Chair), and Early Learning, K-12 & Higher Education.

References• http://www.un.org/sg/• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Ki-moon• http://images.google.com/images?q=• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rntQeLcihe8• http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDQ/

is_2002_Nov_18/ai_94330925• http://english.president.go.kr/cwd/en/archive/

archive_view.php?meta_id=en_press_release&m_def=3&ss_def=4&id=6ace0ed309db3f3e22c5ec1

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_drama

References

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Sun-sin• http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/

laureates/2000/dae-jung-bio.html• http://www.ahnchangho.or.kr/edefault.asp • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paull_Shin