[Did You Know] Son Ki-jeong, Who Sold Chamoe and Sugar Cubes Before Challenging Athletics (Part 1)

The Truth of '1947 Boston' Mixing Fact and Fiction
Five Spoons of Sugar on Days with Many Sponsorship Donations
First Marathon Record Mistaken for a Broken Clock
Tsuida Blamed Koreans for Failing to Win Medals at the LA Olympics

Director Kang Je-gyu's new work, '1947 Boston,' deals with Seo Yun-bok's victory at the 1947 Boston Marathon. It was a remarkable achievement as the first representative of the liberated homeland to step onto the world stage. Behind this shining accomplishment were the efforts of Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong, who awakened the national spirit at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. They devoted themselves to nurturing future generations with endless passion and challenge. They believed that a strong national consciousness and noble patriotism would be the foundation to reunite our society once again. This belief was gained through oppression and discrimination under harsh colonial rule.

"It was an era of tragedy. A long, dark tunnel with no hope or dreams. In that era filled only with despair, I chose marathon running. Even if it was just an escape route toward hope, or even a path leading to destruction, it was fine. I could not endure even a moment without running. I ran and ran over snow-covered hills and frozen gravel roads as if running on flat ground. (Omitted) Entering the Liberation Commemorative Sports Festival of my regained country carrying the Taegeukgi flag, I cried feeling the emotion I had buried in my heart. A nation with its own country is happy. Young people who can run freely on their own land are happy. Who could possibly stop them? (Sohn Kee-chung)"

'1947 Boston' mixes fact and fiction. For example, Sohn Kee-chung (played by Ha Jung-woo) ignores the tenth anniversary celebration of his Berlin Summer Olympics marathon victory. He stays in a restaurant, drowning his sorrow in alcohol. People fail to understand his despair and frustration; they only envy his personal glory. In reality, he was led by seniors Kim Eun-bae and Kwon Tae-ha to the podium in front of Daehanmun. Wearing the victory wreath prepared by the Sports Times, he responded to congratulatory speeches by Dr. Syngman Rhee and Mr. Kim Gu.

Even excluding fiction, the footprints of Sohn Kee-chung, Nam Sung-yong, and Seo Yun-bok are dramatic enough. They ran 42.195 km with the hope of correctly recognizing the unfortunate history and never repeating past mistakes. The historical facts are listed here without order.

"I had no other desire than the revival of marathon. I had no money. On days when a lot of sponsorship money was collected, I gave the sweating athletes water with five spoonfuls of sugar; on days when less was collected, water with one spoonful of sugar. Everyone was devoted to marathon with a spirit of self-discipline. Despite the hardships, Seo Yun-bok went onto the world stage and upheld Korea's name and dignity in marathon. (Omitted) My last wish is only to close my eyes while listening to the vigorous victory songs of junior marathoners. (Sohn Kee-chung)"

'Did you know?' Here is some useful information delivered without order. It’s a tip for enjoying the movie more interestingly.

* Sohn Kee-chung was born on the 29th day of the 8th lunar month in 1912 in Namminpo-dong, Sinuiju, North Pyongan Province. He was the youngest among three sons and one daughter. His father's name was Sohn In-seok, and his mother was Kim Bok-nyeo. He was an ordinary commoner who lived and died in the sorrow of losing his country without understanding why. Namminpo-dong was a poor village pushed outside the riverbank even within Sinuiju. The city had a water supply, and clean water poured out when turning the tap, but in his village, they had to draw and drink groundwater. It was like muddy water. People filtered water through containers filled with sand, gravel, and charcoal and sold it for one jeon per load carried on a shoulder pole.

* Sohn Kee-chung's father ran a small shop. The household was not sufficient for six family members. His mother helped the family by carrying and selling various daily sundries on her head. Sohn Kee-chung barely attended school and lived a hard life. From the age of fourteen, he sold melons, sugar cubes, corn, roasted chestnuts, wool gloves, and wool scarves. He also knitted gloves and socks to sell.

* Sohn Kee-chung devoted himself to his specialty, running, at the recommendation of teacher Lee Il-seong. At that time, most race participants were rickshaw pullers and cart drivers whose job was running.

* Sohn Kee-chung first learned about marathon running at the Joseon Shrine Competition, where top athletes from all over the country gathered. He wanted to try the longest race if possible. He persuaded a friend to run about 15 km from Sinuiju to Tonggunjeong on the banks of the Yalu River in Uiju County. Sohn Kee-chung ran while his friend rode a bicycle carrying clothes and lunch boxes. They timed themselves with a wristwatch at Tonggunjeong and were startled because the time was close to the world record. Sohn Kee-chung rested for a while and ran back from Tonggunjeong to Sinuiju, setting an even faster record. When Sohn Kee-chung, who had run at a similar pace, was puzzled and checked, the watch was broken. The bicycle had been going erratically over the bumpy gravel road.

* Sohn Kee-chung made his debut in March 1932 at the Kyung-yeong Marathon hosted by the Dong-A Ilbo. He was confused about which route was his course in the triangular area with many branches. He had to give the lead to Byeon Yong-hwan and follow him. Not knowing the direction of the next course caused a huge disadvantage. He eventually lost the win and finished second. Sohn Kee-chung took this result and knocked on the door of the athletics club at Yangjeong High School, then the most prestigious school with the best athletics club in Joseon.

* The 1932 Los Angeles Summer Olympics was the first Olympics where our nation debuted, although under the name of another country, Japan. Before the games, the first preliminary competition for Joseon athletes was held in Gyeongseong. Sohn Kee-chung was scheduled to compete only in his main event, the 5000m. However, at the urging of officials, he also started at the 10,000m line purely as a sparring partner for senior Kim Eun-bae. Kim Eun-bae won with a time of 33 minutes 38.2 seconds. Sohn Kee-chung finished second, 5 meters behind. After a short rest, he competed in the 5000m race. Running two events in one day was no easy task, but he finished first (16 minutes 3.2 seconds), beating Yoo Hae-bung and others. This was the best record in Joseon, breaking the previous 16 minutes 5 seconds by 1.8 seconds. In the marathon, Kwon Tae-ha took a wrong course and ran about 150 meters extra but still won with 2 hours 35 minutes 12 seconds. Joseon athletes showed great strength in long-distance events. Japanese athletes were somewhat superior only in sprints and field events.

* In May 1932, the Japanese Championships, which doubled as the final selection for the Japanese representatives to the Los Angeles Summer Olympics, were held in Tokyo. Kwon Tae-ha won the marathon here with 2 hours 36 minutes 50 seconds. Kim Eun-bae came second with 2 hours 37 minutes 57 seconds, and Tsuda of Keio University, Japan, took third. Kwon Tae-ha and Kim Eun-bae, along with boxer Hwang Eul-soo, became Olympic representatives. Although they bore the Rising Sun flag, they became the first Olympians from Joseon. Tsuda, who desperately tried to win at the Olympics by bullying others, finished fifth (2 hours 35 minutes 42 seconds). His pacemakers, Kim Eun-bae and Kwon Tae-ha, finished sixth (2 hours 37 minutes 28 seconds) and ninth (2 hours 42 minutes 52 seconds), respectively. Tsuda blamed his defeat on Kwon Tae-ha and Kim Eun-bae, reporting to the team that they did not follow his strategy. Kwon Tae-ha and Kim Eun-bae immediately protested. Especially Kwon Tae-ha showed intense resentment and decided not to return to Japan. Using the passport he had as a team member, he stayed alone in the United States. He entered the University of Southern California and prepared for a new life.

* Kim Eun-bae was weak and frequently ill as a child. To get rid of this, he started running and became an athlete. Initially, he competed in the 5000m and 10,000m events. Although a long-distance runner, he thought he needed to develop speed, so he ran holding onto the back of a tram from Gyeongseong Station to the Han River. Sometimes he was caught by the conductor and scolded. He also ran up and down Namsan Mountain. Thanks to intense training, Kim Eun-bae set the best records in Joseon and rose as the top marathoner domestically.

* Kwon Tae-ha, from Cheongju, was a passionate person. He clashed with Japanese people everywhere in protest against Japan's discriminatory policies toward Koreans. His family was well-off, so he dropped out of Huimun High School and went to study in Japan. He completed middle school in Japan and attended Meiji University’s law department but joined the rugby club because he liked sports. He often fought with Japanese players and switched to marathon, an individual sport.

* While in the United States, Kwon Tae-ha sent a letter to Sohn Kee-chung, with whom he had trained in Gyeongseong: "Sohn Kee-chung, I participated in the Olympics but failed. Now that I want to start again, it feels a bit late. I saw your excellent marathon talent while practicing with you. I believe you can definitely conquer the world marathon. How about starting official marathon running from now on? Then you can surely defeat those Japanese and bring them down." Later, Sohn Kee-chung recalled: "Reading the long letter from senior Kwon, I decided to become a marathoner. Until then, I had focused only on middle- and long-distance or relay marathons and had never run the full 42.195 km official marathon. In the letter, I could read senior Kwon’s burning hatred toward the Japanese and his passionate desire to conquer the world marathon. His letter was the decisive turning point for me to switch to an official marathoner."

* The first official full-distance marathon held on Japanese soil was in November 1923, a year before the Stockholm Summer Olympics. Until then, the Japanese athletics world had not properly introduced the official marathon. People simply called long-distance road races "marathons." Twelve athletes braved the rain to participate in the Olympic qualifiers. The winner was Kaneguri. Surprisingly, his time was 2 hours 32 minutes 45 seconds, faster than the then world record in the 2 hours 35 minutes range. The Japanese were filled with dreams of a gold medal. However, Kaneguri, running on unfamiliar Nordic paved roads under scorching sun, gave up at the 16 km mark due to exhaustion. He is called the father of Japanese marathon.

* In Joseon, the first full-course marathon was held four years later in October 1927 at the 3rd Joseon Shrine Competition. Thirty-four athletes participated. The first to cross the finish line was Ma Bong-ok, with a time of 3 hours 29 minutes 37 seconds.

* Japan was anxious ahead of dispatching its team to the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics. They thought that, like the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, Joseon athletes should not represent the marathon again. They concluded that the failure in 1932 was because two Joseon athletes disrupted team harmony. Sohn Kee-chung had won the Japanese Championships, which doubled as the selection race, with the world’s best record, so even if he placed second in the final selection, he could join the team. On the other hand, Nam Sung-yong, who placed fourth, had to win the selection to go to the Olympics. Sohn Kee-chung wanted to outsmart his competitors Shioaku and Suzuki. As soon as the race started, he ran like a storm as if he would go to the Olympics alone. Shioaku and Suzuki hurriedly chased him. While pulling and slowing down several times, Nam Sung-yong surged to the front. The plan worked, and Nam Sung-yong finished first, Sohn Kee-chung second. Japan, having no grounds to exclude all Joseon athletes, decided to send all four marathon representatives. They devised a desperate plan to select three again locally in Berlin.

* Tsuda, who was the marathon coach, was ousted due to Kwon Tae-ha’s fierce opposition. Kwon Tae-ha exposed Tsuda as an incompetent coach who caused the defeat in the previous Olympic marathon through Japanese and domestic newspapers. Especially, he published a three-part article titled "How Japan Can Win the Berlin Olympic Marathon" in the Governor-General’s official newspaper, the Gyeongseong Ilbo. At the same time, he advised Odа Mikio, sports editor of the influential Asahi Shimbun, not to use Tsuda as coach. He thought that talented Joseon athletes should not be sacrificed again because of Japanese athletes as four years ago. Odа was the first Japanese Olympic gold medalist, winning the triple jump at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics.

* The Berlin Olympic marathon started from the Olympic main stadium, went out to the lakeside of Stedesen, followed the Havel River through the dense Grunewald forest, passed the Avus automobile race track, ran along the Havel River bank, and returned to the stadium in a loop course.

* Seven Joseon youths participated in the Berlin Olympics as Japanese representatives: marathon runners Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong; footballer Kim Yong-sik; basketball players Jang Yi-jin, Yeom Eun-hyun, and Lee Seong-gu; and boxer Lee Gyu-hwan.

Reference materials: Sohn Kee-chung, 'My Country, My Marathon' (Humanist, 2022); Kim Ji-hwan, 'Modern Railroad' (Books Together, 2022); Jo Dong-pyo, 'Marathon is Alive' (Life and Dream, 1995); Choi In-jin, 'Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong Erasing the Rising Sun Flag from Their Hearts' (Shingu Munhwasa, 2006); MEDIA2.0 Editorial Department, 'Sports 2.0' (2007?2008), etc.

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