Ahn Cheol Soo Interview: On His Parents

This is a second clip of the interview done with Ahn Cheol Soo.

He is a doctor, entrepreneur, professor, researcher, programmer and politician. He is also a former presidential candidate of the Republic of Korea.

He graduated from the medical school of Seoul National University, and became a doctor. While working as a doctor, he also worked on developing antivirus vaccine, and founded AhnLab, Inc.
To find more about him, refer to this Wiki page.

You can also find the previous interview that I posted a few days ago here.

백지연: 되돌아 보면, 우리 어머님 아버님께서 날 이렇게 키워주셨던게 지금의 나를 만드는데 큰 그 뿌리가 된거 같다라든지 역할을 하신거 같다는건 어떤거세요?

Baik Ji-Yeon: When you reflect (on the past), in regards to "The way that my mother and my father raised me became a foundation that shaped who I am now" what do you mean?

안철수: 어, 그.. 아버님이 직접 저한테 뭐 어떻게 하라고 이야기하시는 건 굉장히 드물고요.

Ahn Cheol-Soo: Well, it is very rare for my father to to tell me directly what to do.

그 아버님도 이제 경상도 남자분이니깐 저도 경상도 남자고요.

Well, my father is from Gyeongsang-Do, and I am a Gyeongsang-Do man as well.

Note: Gyeongsang-Do is one of the provinces in Korea. Men from Gyeongsang-Do is often characterised by their brusque/curt/blunt manner, and they're often unaccumstomed to verbalising intimate expressions. For example, they would express their love through "acts of service" rather than "words of affirmation," as per 5 Love Languages.

그러다 보니깐 그 뭐 말이 다가 아니지 않습니까 말로 해야하만이 알 수 있는 건 아니니깐요. 뭐 그런 철학을 가지고 계셨던거 같은데요. 어 그나마 기억에 남는 몇가지가 어, 책 많이 보셨구요. 아주 나이 많이 드셔도 책 많이 보신 일들.

So, you know words are not the only way to convey your message. I think he had that kind of philosophy. And well, from what I can remember, he read a lot of books. He kept reading even when he was quite old.

그 다음에 또, 제가 어렸을 땐데요. 신문에 아버님이 났어요. 조그맣게 기사가. 근데 그걸 내용을 보니깐, 저희 그 집 앞으로 신문 배달 소년이 자동차 사고를 당했데요. 아주 큰 사고는 아니였는데, 아버님이 치료 해 주신 다음에 치료비를 이제 낼려고 하는데, 오히려 야단치고, 뭐 신문 배달하는 애가 무슨 돈이 있느냐고 돌려 보내셨드라고요.

And when I was young, there was a newspaper article on my father. A small article. It was about an accident in which a boy who circulated newspapers got injured. It wasn't a big accident, but after my father treated him, and when the boy was about to pay the fee, my father scolded him for trying to pay. He said,"it's OK, I'm not going to charge you any fee." and let him go after the treatment.

근데 그게 이제 미담으로 신문에 났었던 그게 기억이 나고요. 그 다음에 제가 의대 졸업할 때 정도니깐요. 그 때 되면 아버지가 아버님이 50이 넘으셨는데요. 그 때 전문의 시험을 치셔서 합격을 하셨어요. 그래서 아, 나이가 들어도 학교 다니고 공부하고 충분히 그럴 수 있구나. 그런 것들도 아마 알게 모르게 저한테 영향이 됬었던 거 같습니다.

So, I remember that story in the newspaper. Also, when I was about to graduate from medical school, when my father was over 50 years of age, he sat a specialist exam, and passed it. So, I learned that it is possible to attend school, study (and pass even specialist exams) even when you're quite old. I think, subconsciously, these kinds of things also became a big influence on me.