A history is found out in 67 years

Important historical data dating back 67 years has been discovered about the Dong-A marathon, which could disappear.

Lee Chi-woo, a 65-year-old TV talent and drama actor informed Dong-A Ilbo that he found whole records, such as certificates of merit and photos of his father, Lee Jong-rok (19-years-old at that time, Baejaegobo) who won the seventh competition (the Kyoungyoung short marathon at that time) in 1937.

Information about the seventh competition has been spotty in the 75-maraton history of the Dong-A event. Records have not remained because the competition was conducted on March 21, 1937 when Dong-A Ilbo was forced to suspend publication from August 29, 1936 to May 31, 1937 by the Japanese government due to the “erasure of the Japanese flag” incident in which Dong-A Ilbo erased the Japanese flag on a the chest of the late Son Ki-jeong, the marathon champion of the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Consequently, the seventh competition only has been blank without records, but with this discovery, it became possible to complete the history of the Dong-A marathon.

The business bureau of Dong-A Ilbo has also contributed to the search for historical records. Searching the newspapers, it discovered in an article dated March 20, 1938 that “Lee Jong-rok, the champion of the competition in 1937, swore representing players in at the opening ceremony of the competition in 1938,” and contacted Lee Chi-woo, the son of Lee Jong-rok after having inquired into rumors.

The son, Lee searched the personal effects of his father, who was kidnapped to North Korea during the Korean War, and found the treasure he had been looking for: the certificate for second place in the sixth competition and the photo of his father running into the stadium, as well as the certificate for first place in the seventh competition.

“Father took me whenever he took part in a marathon competition after liberation, and the memory is still vivid that I cheered him, following him in a truck,” Lee said. “Before he was kidnapped to North Korea, he had presided over an athletic group of the Korean National Railroad.”

Because his father had been interested in marathon running since his high school days, his house had been crowded with marathoners and was very much like a training center just before a competition.

However Lee didn’t connect to marathons himself. His sports career consists of playing basketball in a basketball group of Baejae high school. The active president of the Korea Basketball League (KBL), Kim Young-ki, is the 2-year senior of Lee.

“I was moved to tears when I found the discolored certificates. I am honored that my father’s name and record can be listed in Dong-A marathon history,” said Lee.

Sang-Ho Kim hyangsan@donga.com