Speeches and Transcripts
U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea
Yesan Middle School Yesan, ChungCheongNam-do
October 8, 2008
Speech Delivered in Korean
Superintendent Oh, Principal Park, Vice Principal Lee, teachers, students, ladies and gentlemen:
First, thank you Vice Principal Lee for your generous introduction.
I also want to thank everyone here who worked so hard to organize this gathering.
I am so honored to be here, in my Korean hometown: Yesan. Thank you for your very warm welcome. I am so happy to see Yesan Middle School again. It looks great.
In September of 1975, 33 years ago, I arrived in Yesan for the first time. I had been in Korea for only ten weeks. During that time I had studied Korean language and culture for ten weeks in Chung-chung-buk-do. I arrived by myself on the train and found a room that night at a yogwan. The next day I walked to Yesan Middle School. As was expected, I gave my "insa-malsum" in Korean first in the teachers room, and then outside in the school grounds to all the students. I think it was the most nervous moment of my life. I don't think anyone understood what I said, though everyone pretended nothing was wrong. In fact, I learned later some of the students thought I was speaking English, not Korean.
Anyway, I have not given up. In Korea - and America - you never give up.
I am going to try again today - in Korean.
I was the first foreigner to teach at Yesan Middle School. I was the only foreigner living in Yesan at that time. The fact that I was a very tall woman with curly blonde hair made my presence all the more noticeable. I attracted a lot of attention and a lot of comments. But nothing like the attention I've gotten over the past two days as I have returned.
Now 33 years later, I am back as an American diplomat.
What makes a diplomat?
Someone who can understand other cultures, other ways of thinking. Someone who can explain and persuade his own way of thinking. Someone who can solve problems. Someone who is patient, and who will work hard to find a peaceful solution to difficult situations. I don’t think even I am a perfect diplomat yet.
But, I learned to be a diplomat in Yesan. Who taught me?
First, the teachers at Yesan Middle School - especially my wonderful co-teachers and friends - Kwon , Kang Kyong- hui, and Lee Soon ho - who are here today - taught me.
When I felt angry because people made rude comments about me in Korean, thinking I didn't understand, Ms. Lee advised me, rather than make a rude retort, to respond in very polite, high level Korean: "Don't you think you're being rude?"
When I didn't understand why all the teachers had to stay at school after their work was finished, until the vice-principal left the school, Ms. K won helped me learn how to ask the vice- principal in Korean to leave early.
When I felt frustrated about the limits on women's participation in sports in the school, Ms. Kang helped me find a tae-kwon-do teacher and organized tennis games with the other teachers.
Thank you, Ms. Kang, Ms. K won, Ms. Lee. Who else inspired me to be a diplomat?
The students of Yesan Middle School taught me to be a diplomat. The students inspired me with their energy and their enthusiasm. You the students made me believe in a world of greater opportunity, if we just worked hard enough. And you always made me smile.
Who else made me a diplomat?
The vice-principal. To be an American diplomat, you had to take the diplomatic exam. It was given once a year, in Seoul, at the American Embassy, on a Saturday in December .
In those days there were classes on Saturday. I had only been in Yesan a few months when I had to ask the Vice Principal if I could leave early on Friday to go to Seoul to take the exam. He thought for a moment and then gave me permission to take the test on the condition that I passed it!
So thank you, Yesan Middle School and the people of Yesan, for making me a diplomat!
Now, thirty three years later, I have returned as the U. S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea.
Over the past thirty years Korea has changed beyond description.
It makes me think of an expression I first learned in Yesan: even the mountains and rivers change in ten years. But what is constant is that Korea is the U.S.'s ally, friend, and a key country in Asia. Our two countries have decided to upgrade Korea-U.S. relations to a strategic alliance for the 21st century. Therefore, our two countries have to closely cooperate on the free trade agreement, the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, the search for lasting peace, the adjustments and transformation of our security presence on the peninsula, the visa waiver program and many other initiatives.
To achieve these goals, we must all be diplomats. I hope you will join me in working toward an even stronger U.S.-Korea relationship.
Like Yesan and I, Korea and the United States have had a long and deep history. We have learned much from each other and share many common values. I hope during my tenure in Korea that we can move the U.S.-Korea relationship to a new level.
Thank you for listening again to my Korean. I would be happy to answer any questions that you might have.