※ 아래 스크립트는 발표자의 발표내용을 그대로 표기하였으므로 구어체 표현이 포함되어있고,
일부 문장은 문법적 오류가 포함될수 있는점 참고 부탁드립니다.
Good morning, ladies and gentleman. I am now a freshman in one of the universities
in Busan. And, when you think of the city Busan, what comes to your mind? The ocean,
mostly, right?
Today, I'm here to talk about this special place, called ‘United Nations Cemetery Park
in Korea’. Well, it is special place because it contains so many graves of Korean War
veterans of all different nationalities, and it is the only United Nations cemetery park
in the world. And, the thing is, being extremely close to the park, my university has
its own very unique and special volunteering group, called, um, right here,
“UN Supporters.” Cool, right?
Um, so what happened was when it just got into the university, I gotta honest here,
I had no idea what this UN Supporters was all about, just like any of you here.
Because I thought, “UN Supporters? Is that some kind of group that gets you a job in
the United Nations?” Well, anyway, I got into the group because I needed volunteering
hours, and I had no idea what I will be facing in future.
Now, it's turns out that the group is about honoring Korean War veterans. But,
it was much more complicated work than just picking up trash in the park. So, my job,
my volunteering work, contained writing letters for veterans, translating letters from
Korean to English, or even guiding the veterans whenever they arrive to the park to
the grave that they were looking for. Of course, they’re all tremendously meaningful
jobs, but then I kinda get tired of it. Because, first, I was only a freshman. I still am.
So, I thought I just want to enjoy my freshman life, just like any of my friends. It was
all Saturday works, to be honest to excuse myself. And, second, frankly speaking I
could not really relate to this matter because none of my family was engaged in a
war or neither have I been experiencing that kind. So, I thought, you know what, I
want to drop out of this group.
Then, there was this special event. What happened was this English veteran, James
Grundy visited the cemetery park. And gave a speech, about his own war experience,
and he told us that his job was- he was in a Recovery Team, which means he had to
look for the bodies, the dead bodies, of soldiers. And he actually had to bring them
all the way to Busan, the Park. And really, he told us everything. He told us about
how miserable it was for him to actually look at his own comrades, soldiers with such
a damage…
And that was when I actually started to cry out loud in the middle of the place,
because, well, and that was pretty life changing for me. Because he actually told us
about his own life experience in the war. right? And then I thought, well, this really
comes to my skin. Now he’s telling us how, things have been. right? And, well, I mean
I then realized that I was a consequence, that’s right, that’s the word, I was a
consequence of fighting for his life. Because without him fighting for his life, I wouldn’t
have lived the same, right? Maybe, I would have not even born. So, the thing is, it
really changed my life and my view about not only Korean War, but also my life. So,
he gave, this old English man, gave his today, for my tomorrow in a way. And I thought, well, you know, I'm not doing this volunteering job just for myself, but also for my future generations. And ever since, I'm trying my very best to give my future generations. my today, for their tomorrow.
That was the end of the story. Well, the thing is… Am I still working in the volunteering group? I am. Am I still regretting it? Nope. I’m not. So that was it. And this winter UN
supporters is going to England to actually meet him again and other veterans too. So,
that was my story and thank you so much, I was nervous, thank you so much for
listening very patiently, Thank you.