On the 12th, history collector Park Geon-ho appeared on the tvN entertainment program 'You Quiz on the Block.' Photo by tvN 'You Quiz on the Block' broadcast capture
[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Min Jun-young] History collector Park Geon-ho revealed the reason why he purchased calligraphy by Lee Wan-yong.
On the 12th, the tvN show 'You Quiz on the Block' aired a Liberation Day special featuring Park Geon-ho, who introduced the historical materials he has been collecting.
During the broadcast, Park Geon-ho revealed a document from 1876, saying, "The year 1876, Byeongja year, was a period of the greatest drought in the 19th century. I realized there was history I didn't know. What I knew was only half the story. So I decided to look for history beyond the textbooks."
He then showed Christmas seals issued during the Japanese colonial period, explaining, "This shows the difference between the first edition and the reprint. The Japanese banned and confiscated the first edition," adding, "The mountains were drawn too high because Mount Geumgang was believed to instill the spirit of independence. At that time, in 1940-1941, we had to use the Japanese era name 'Showa,' but I redesigned it using the Gregorian calendar."
He also introduced the autograph of the late athlete Sohn Kee-chung, saying, "Sohn Kee-chung won at the Berlin Olympics on August 9. He signed this three days after his victory," and added, "This is the oldest remaining autograph. He participated under the name 'Kitei Son,' but after winning, he wrote 'KOREAN' and his name Sohn Kee-chung. On a postcard sent to a hometown friend, he wrote only the three words 'I am sad.'"
Park Geon-ho also revealed calligraphy by Lee Wan-yong that he acquired at an auction.
Seeing this, Yoo Jae-suk asked, "I don't want to see this. Do I really have to? Why on earth did you collect this, sir?" Park Geon-ho replied, "You don't have to look. Of course, what I really wanted to collect was the calligraphy of Ahn Jung-geun."
He continued, "Ahn Jung-geun's calligraphy usually goes for about 500 million won at auctions," explaining, "There is a piece with the characters 'Gyeongcheon,' and longer writings can fetch around 1.5 billion won. On the other hand, Lee Wan-yong's calligraphy is about 1/100 of that price. Even the expensive ones don't exceed 400,000 won. That's why I was able to purchase them."
He added, "Ugly, dirty, and painful history is still history, so I thought if someone like me doesn't collect it, it might disappear," and said, "In the grand flow of history, Ahn Jung-geun is the victor and Lee Wan-yong is the loser. Someday, I want to acquire Ahn Jung-geun's calligraphy. I believe that when they are placed together in the future, Ahn Jung-geun's spirit will shine even brighter."
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