Late Dr. Kim Un-Yong

In previous Op-Eds I listed my other visits to North Korea (1994-2004) in addition to 1952. These were intended sports visits which I was helped by my good friend and also Korean War veteran, Dr. Kim Un-Yong.

We both knew what war was about, “honor, duty, country” and about the millions who died defending that “honor, duty, country”, as we had both seen it up close.

While our paths didn’t cross on the MSR (Main Supply Route) or the MLR (Main Line Resistant) we shared a common bond, fight for what is right!

Years later when I and Dr. Kim first met it was also about “honor, duty and fairness”. We traveled the world in the interest of our sports, his, Taekwondo, mind Softball.

We worked in bringing many sports together in a common bond in competing in an event called World Games. Later, Dr. Kim was successful in bringing the 1988 Summer Olympics to Seoul, he also was able to guide his sport (Taekwondo) in to the Olympics as my sport also came in to the Olympic arena.

Well, Dr. Kim passed away last year, and since that time an effort had and is being made to have him interned in the National Cemetery. However, there seemed to be a hitch, he had been convicted of a non-violent crime that many other Korean citizens seemed to be exempt from conviction because of their political or social status.

Remember, “unfair”, it was unfair for many of us (Americans, South Koreans, others) to leave our homes and families to fight an unfair war, with the Communist Russia and China propping up North Korea.