[The Editors' Verdict] Do You Know "Adult Kim Jang-ha"?

During high school, teachers sometimes shared stories about a certain "adult" during class. This adult, who never appeared in books or the news, was Chairman Kim Jang-ha, the founder of Myeongshin High School in Jinju, Gyeongnam. The stories teachers told about Chairman Kim were always the same. "Chairman Kim used his personal fortune to establish this school and donated it to the nation without any compensation after eight years. You must study hard."

As a naive youth, I took these stories about Chairman Kim at face value, but as I grew older, they resurfaced vividly. I gradually realized how difficult it is to live a life of sharing and giving. Sometimes, I found myself curious about his life.

Life can be absurdly interesting at times, and on the 7th, I was able to satisfy my curiosity about Chairman Kim at a movie theater. It was the preview screening of the film Adult Kim Jang-ha. A documentary film featuring Chairman Kim as the main character is set to be released on the 15th.

He grew up poor and barely graduated from middle school. Studying day and night while working at an herbal medicine shop, he opened his own herbal medicine business at the age of 19. According to his employees, Chairman Kim emphasized small profits but quick turnover. It was a way to provide medicine cheaply to many people. As word spread, Chairman Kim made a lot of money. His business flourished to the point where he had nearly 20 employees and had to prepare medicine until 3 a.m.

He donated almost all the money he earned back to society. Chairman Kim said, "I made money from people who were sick and suffering," and "I could not spend such precious money carelessly."

In 1991, Chairman Kim donated Myeongshin High School in Jinju, which he established with about 11 billion won of his own funds, to the nation. It was not just the founding of Myeongshin High School. Chairman Kim also greatly contributed to the establishment of the Jinju Domestic Violence Counseling Center and the launch of the local newspaper Jinju Newspaper. When students from the Gyeongsang National University drama club needed funds for their performances, Chairman Kim was the first person they approached. Even before founding Myeongshin High School, he had long provided scholarships to poor students in the region. Moon Hyung-bae, a Constitutional Court judge who graduated from Dae-a High School in Jinju, received the Kim Jang-ha scholarship for three years of high school and four years of university.

The process of bringing Adult Kim Jang-ha to theaters is fascinating. Chairman Kim’s lifelong practice of sharing caught the attention of Kim Joo-wan, former editor-in-chief of the Gyeongnam Domin Ilbo. Despite Chairman Kim’s persistent refusal to be interviewed, Kim Joo-wan relentlessly pursued him for several years.

Kim Joo-wan’s efforts led to the production of a documentary by MBC Gyeongnam. After airing as a two-part series at the end of last year, it received enthusiastic responses from viewers. MBC broadcast it nationwide during this year’s Lunar New Year holiday, and the positive reception continued. In April, it won the TV Documentary Award at the Baeksang Arts Awards and eventually reached theatrical screening.

In an increasingly bleak world, the warm spirit of a life dedicated to sharing has gained public acclaim, creating a small miracle. Amid the unprecedented downturn in the film industry, we hope the miracle of Adult Kim Jang-ha will extend to box office success as well.