[Namsan Ddalggakbari] Intellectual of the Era Dr. Lee O-ryeong: "Don't Worry. I Absolutely Won't Die"

Jisoo Kim's 'Lee Eoryeong's Last Lesson'

"Lord, let me write a beautiful line of poetry to prove that I am not just one among the same number as them." - Charles Baudelaire, 19th-century French poet

It may sound like a boastful remark at first, but Dr. Lee O-ryeong says, "Humans should all be like that." Otherwise, it is no different from living as a mere 'herd.' He says, "One must become a unique individual, not just another one." Indeed, his life was just so. Born in 1934 in Asan, Chungnam, he served as a distinguished professor at Ewha Womans University with a doctorate in literature and as a literary critic. He worked as an editorial writer for several newspapers including the Chosun Ilbo, JoongAng Ilbo, and Kyunghyang Shinmun, positioning himself as a chronicler of the times. He directed the famous Rolling Hoop Boy at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1988 Seoul Olympics and served as the first Minister of Culture.

The Korea National University of Arts (Korea Arts Institute) is also his creation. During his tenure as Minister of Culture, when the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Energy Resources protested that only the Ministry of Culture was granted privileges for specialized schools, he calmed the conflict with a five-minute speech at the Cabinet meeting. "If there are geniuses, they must receive special education. It is not a privilege. Rather, they are pitiable children. (Omitted) Artists cannot live in this world without their talent. Without it, they become criminals." Thus, the Korea Arts Institute was born, and Dr. Lee O-ryeong called those students "five minute kids" (children born within five minutes).

Recognition from others was not important to him. Because "the joy of the work itself" mattered, he took charge of the 1988 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies without receiving a single penny. He mentioned that plain mats (mumunseok) without patterns are traded at higher prices than patterned mats (hwamunseok), explaining, "Hwamunseok weavers get excited weaving patterns because of the anticipation, but mumunseok is purely tedious labor for completion. It is harder because there is no change."

For him, life itself was thirst. Although he mastered plays, novels, and poetry and achieved results in various fields, he always "left the path with thirst just as he was about to reach the top." Why? "Because once you reach the top, it ends." Thirst was the driving force and pleasure of his life.

However, he also had limits. For him, "happiness was writing one perfect piece," but since he could not achieve that, he kept writing and writing. "Since I cannot complete it either, I cannot reach happiness," he said, "Endlessly writing is happiness, thirst, pleasure, and pain at the same time. Perhaps pain has become the goal."

His life was also lonely. "There were no disciples, teachers, or friends to share with." "When professors gathered in the office, they were busy talking about baduk, politics, or scandals," and "if I spoke about a slightly serious topic, I was ostracized." Although the lecture halls were always packed, few came with flowers on Teacher’s Day, which always made him feel "disappointed and lonely."

He is quietly accepting death while battling cancer. These days, he sleeps on the sofa to avoid waking his wife with cries of pain in the early morning and often spends time resolving misunderstandings with his family. When thinking of his daughter who passed away earlier, he regrets, "I wish I had told her those words while she was alive." Recently, he heard a belated confession from his son: the baseball glove his father bought was for a left-hander (though his son is right-handed). "I was afraid Dad would be sorry if he knew, so I never said anything and quickly switched it," he said. The teacher conveyed, "It’s a mix of guilt and obsession. Blood doesn’t lie. Everyone in our family is like that."

He said there is someone he wants to see one last time before he dies. It is a female student who waited for him in the parking lot after a lecture at Sookmyung Women’s University long ago. She shivered in the cold for a long time, her face pale, saying, "Teacher, you must not die." At the time, he coldly replied, "How can I control life and death?" But now he realizes, "Perhaps after reading my books, she grew fond of me, and when you deeply depend on someone’s existence, you get terribly scared thinking, ‘What if this person disappears from this world?’" He wants to tell her when they meet again: although we know we will die someday, like a parent comforting a child saying, 'Mom won’t die,' "I didn’t leave so coldly then... Don’t worry. I will never die."

A representative from Yeollimwon Publishing said, "A young man left a comment on a reporter Kim Ji-su’s interview article with Dr. Lee O-ryeong saying he was about to commit suicide but changed his mind. Dr. Lee was moved by that and later proposed an in-depth interview to reporter Kim Ji-su, which resulted in this book. About 47,000 copies have been sold so far. The reader response was faster than expected, which surprised us. Dr. Lee also likes it," they said.

Lee O-ryeong’s Last Lesson | Written by Kim Ji-su | Yeollimwon | 16,500 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.