Speeches

Take Care of Your New Country Sunny K. Park, Founder, Good Neighboring Foundation, Inc. Speech to new US citizen candidates, US District Court, Pensacola, FL July 19, 2024 Good morning! It is a memorable day in the City of Five Flags. I am so honored and excited to address all of you as our newest esteemed Americans at this historical Courthouse, presided over by one of the most patriotic Americans I know, Judge Davis. Many of you know Judge Davis’s father Raymond Davis was a 4-star USMC General, he was recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor. General Davis and his comrades fought in Korean War and saved 50+ million South Koreans. South Koreans are so thankful to all of them. Thank you, Judge Davis, for this invitation and your kind introduction. I liked that you used the exaggerated version of my resume. I also want to express my gratitude to everyone serving in today’s auspicious program, as well as all the volunteers and scout members. It is truly an honor to join all of you! I currently live in Atlanta, Georgia. I am here today with three good friends who are travelling with me to join this celebration: Mr. Sean Park, Mr. Ki Hwan Kim, Mr. Seung Kwon Suh. Thank you to them for accompanying me today. New Americans! Your American Dream starts today! Welcome to America! You all look fabulous and happy! I am Sunny Park. An American by choice. I still remember the morning when I became a U.S. citizen 4 decades ago. As I left the citizenship ceremony, I kissed the ground, and looked up to the sky while waving American flag and promised my new country ONE thing: “America, I don’t want you to lose money on me. I will try to be one of the best citizens in American history, so help me God!” I have yet to achieve this goal, but I am still working hard to serve my neighborhoods, communities, and country. When I first arrived the US as a Korean immigrant, I had no English ability, no money, well, I had $200, and no relatives in this country. Despite these obstacles, I stand in front of you this morning to share that the opportunities are boundless in this great country. I could do it, and certainly, I believe you can do the same or more because you are living in a country where “anything IS possible.” Once I became a US citizen, being a patriotic American was easy for me. However, before I became a citizen, there was one decision that I had to struggle with before committing to becoming 100% loyal American. I believe when a person decides to become a citizen of a country, they must choose one nation to commit their complete loyalty and heart. As we all know, one man cannot have two wives at the same time (without getting into a lot of trouble). I had thought perhaps about splitting my commitment to serve both my motherland of South Korea and new adopted country of the United States, but I soon realized that the United States does not deserve my divided loyalties as I read through the Oath of Allegiance. I finally made a bold decision to put my beloved country, Korea, in my heart! As you probably studied, America has a unique history that requires its citizens commitment and dedication. For example, this nation’s earliest settlers, including British immigrants, were called to bear arms and shoot rifles against their own descent, British troops, to defend this land during the Revolutionary War when the US was fighting for its independence. The United States needs your firm and undivided loyalty as much as You need America’s protection and commitment to you! The Oath of Allegiance is a contract between each of you and the U.S., and we should meet these obligations as citizens. Mainly, America wants you to be a patriotic American and a valuable neighbor to others. The bottom line, this country does not want fake Americans. I don’t know about you, but I feel “goosebumps” every time I hear our national anthem and see the waving American flag. As you start your journey as new Americans, I have three items to suggest each of you: Number one: Enjoy your freedom as a proud American. America is the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. In this nation, you can do anything you want under the rule of law. Please enjoy your freedom, but also please remember how freedom is being provided. It is not free. There are millions uniformed service men and women, many of them are foreign born Americans like you and I, soldiers and first responders serve to keep our neighborhoods and our country be safe. Number two: Make the most of the Land of Opportunity offers. America is a unique place of opportunities. You can be very successful here if you try and work hard. I worked 12-16 hours per day and 6 days every week for over 45 years. It didn’t hurt me but helped me. I challenge all of you to plan a few outrageously high personal goals for your American dream and enjoy working hard to achieve it. When I first arrived in the U.S., I had set a personal goal to someday pay $1 million income tax annually to my new country. At the time, I was only making $1.80 an hour. To reach this ambitious goal, it took me 23 years. It was not an easy task, but I had great fun striving to achieve it. Did I hear that some of you want to know how I did it? I can share one of my car salesman days’ stories, it will take 3 extra minutes of your time though. One rainy day in Georgia, a family of four, a couple and two young children walked into the car dealer where I was working and looking for a new car to buy. They were looking for a light blue Malibu Classic with 4 doors to buy. Unfortulately, we didn’t have a light blue model in stock. I checked other Chevy dealers in the Atlanta area but there was none in town. The disappointed customer settled to purchase a dark blue car which we had in stock, instead. I finished the paperwork and completed the sale. They are to come back tomorrow to pick up the new car. However, the family was not happy with the decision to buy a car not the color they like, light blue. I didn’t like to sell a car the customer is not happy with. I stopped them and told them not to buy a car they are not happy with. I promised to find a car in light blue for them. They were puzzled but agreed with me and left. I checked stocks at all Chevy dealers in the East Coast and found a light blue car in Knoxville, TN. I was thrilled to find the car and imagined the family’s happy faces. I left Atlanta At 4 AM the next day for Knoxville TN, 4-hour drive one way, swapped the car and drove the light blue car back to Atlanta, and delivered the car they were looking for a long time. As the new car rolled out of the car dealers parking lot, I was happy to see the family was happy! At those days, car salesmen usually make about $100 per car sales as commission. After they left me, I checked my commission for the car sale, and I was disappointed in myself. I only made $20 commission for 2 full days’ work and expenses for 8 hours travel. But there was nothing I could do about it, I tried hard to forget. Fast forward, about a month later, I received a call from the man of the family bought the light blue car. He invited me to his office to discuss the fleet sale of the company. This gentleman was the purchasing manager of Scientific Atlanta, they make big satellite dish antennas, was small company but growing fast, later they were acquired by the tech giant Cisco. He told me that he was impressed with my customer service and wanted to buy the company fleet, vans and trucks, from me. To his Company in the following 2 years, I ended up selling more than 200 vehicles, and made a lot more commission than $100. The reason I shared the story is because I want you to be happy by making others happy. I ask you to practice the Golden Rule, treat others the way you want to be treated. If you forget, it is in the Bible, Matthew 7:12. Number three: Take care of your Country The United State of America is ours! As US citizens, you will be one of owners of the U. S. It is like you just bought a castle as your new home. Question. Who is going to take care of the castle? YOU! Let me explain with an analogy. What do you do when you live in a temporary rental apartment and the roof starts to leak? You will call the management office, and they will come and fix it for you. What do you do when you own your house and your roof leaks? Yes, no matter what time, or how heavy the rain is falling, you will be on the roof top and start making the repair. Everything that is GOOD in this country is yours, and all that is NOT THAT GOOD like the roof leak, is also yours! While you are enjoying American life and US citizenship rights; If you see some garbage litter around on the street in your neighborhood? It is your duty to pick up. You hear some people bad-mouth about the United States? It is your duty to shut them off. We cannot just complain but need to actively contribute to fix problems together with other Americans. America is expecting and deserves your L O Y A L T Y, Commitment and Service! I wish you the best, and pray for God’s blessings for each of you, and our great Nation. With all our active care and service together, the United States will continue to be the best place to live, and strongest nation in the world! This Land Is Your Land! Welcome to America!

Speech New American Hero Award Gala March 15, 2024 Good evening! Welcome to 14 th New American Hero Award celebration which coincide with 28 th Anniversary of the American Korean Friendship Society. I am pleased to announce that we have a record-breaking turnout with 240 plus attendees. Thank you all for joining us this evening! We are honored to have you all here. Several of you made a long-distance trip to be here. Dr. Abraham Kim flew in from DC today to help our program as an emcee. Thank you, Abe! We are honored to honor the awardees this evening, Ambassador Sung Kim and Mrs. Kim came all the way from Seoul, and Dr. Chang made the early red-eye flight from Los Angeles. Some of the guests drove 5 hours to get here. Thank you! I would like to take an opportunity to thank all volunteers, they work hard for the Society, and we thank you all for your efforts and good hearts. We started the first meeting in 1996 with 38 concerned leaders of both nations. It was at my home, a small room in the basement. There were USMC General Raymond Davis, Ambassador Jim Laney, US Army General Bill Livsey, Mayor of Seoul City Kim Sang Chul, Dr. Cho Wan-Kyu President of Seoul National University and many other good friends. AKFS’s mission is simple, literally, we are friends, and make the relationship stronger! You and I, and each of you are friends, and will be better friends next year. Together, Americans and Koreans enjoys the bonded alliance, and improve. If I may, I would like to recognize special guests, other than who are on the program, this evening. I will skip calling the honorees since we will recognize them later, Here we go. All Korean War veterans, please stand, and be recognized. All active and retired military personnel, please stand, and be recognized. Rep Rich McCormick is here with us. Georgia State Senator Michael Rhett who sponsored American Korean friendship Caucus at Georgia State Senate is here. He will present the Proclamation later on. Thanks, Major General Dewayne Wilson with Mrs. Wilson, and retired MG. Patrick Donohoe and Mrs. Donohoe here. Commissioner Patricia Ross, the Georgia Dept of Veterans Services is here I would like to ask all elected officials, please stand! Consul General of Japan, Mr. and Mrs. Mio Maeda are here! Our 82 nd Governor Nathan Deal and his daughter Carrie Deal are with us! The honorable Andrew Young, former US Amb to the UN here. Thank you. We all welcome Mrs. Min-Sun Lee, Ambassador Kim’s wife, also came from Seoul. I would like to thank Mr. Il Bum Kim, EVP, Hyundai Motor Group, and my good friend, for all good help, connecting with Ambassador Sung Kim. All guests from Hyundai Motor Group, came from Seoul and DC, please stand. All members of the board and staff of American Korean Friendship Society, please stand. Now, it is time for me to recognize and thank all of you! Everyone please stands and take my bow! NOW, IT IS TIME FOR ME TO BRAG! I want to brag about the record-breaking sponsorship as well! Because of the sponsors, we could order nicer meals and be able to do many good programs. Please know that your dollars are working hard in the Society. We would like to recognize this year’s generous sponsors for the celebration. We established a new award and named it The Paragon Award. I think all sponsors are here this evening except Georgia Ports Authority. Savannah’s Garden City Container Terminal became #4 port among 65 US ports. We are proud of the GPA and its employees running the state business successfully. All sponsors please come forward and be recognized. Mr.& Mrs. Frank Blake Georgia Banking Co General Building Maintenance Atlanta North Dermatology Southeast Regional Center The Chu Family Foundation Mr. and Mrs. Na Ki Yun General and Mrs. Larry Ellis Mr. and Mrs. Sam Olens  THANK YOU SO MUCH, WE COULDN’T DO ANYTHING WITHOUT YOUR SUPPORT!

Veterans day speech at Rotary Club of Cumming, GA November 9, 2023 Sunny K. Park INTRODUCTION Good morning! fellow Rotarians of the Forsyth Rotary Club, Distinguished Guests, Families, Friends and Patriots. Thanks for including me in today’s Veterans Day Ceremony! OBSERVANCE HISTORY Veterans Day commemoration is very special and personal to me. It is a day of national awareness and solemn reverence; a day for us to honor the military men and women who gave their lives in defense of our nation, its values, and our freedom. Veterans Day gives us the opportunity to stop and think about brave Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our great nation. MY STORY GROWING-UP IN SOUTH KOREA I am honored to have the opportunity to share my story of American servicemen I met when I was very young and thank them! As some of you may know, I was born in South Korea, a beautiful country! I often brag about South Korea and how much it has grown since the Korean War; I like to brag about its miracle economy, and how industrialized it has become. However, the miracle economy and advanced technology wouldn’t possible without the contributions of the United States. We are here today to Remember and Honor those American heroes including those who saved South Korea from the tragedies of war. The Korean War broke out on June 25,1950; I was about to celebrate my 8th birthday. The Communist North Koreans in Soviet Union made tanks invaded South Korea in early Sunday morning. Instead of celebrating my birthday, my family and millions of South Koreans fled the South Korea’s Capitol City of Seoul and walked three days and three nights to the South. We were on foot in our escape and realized the North Korean Army had outpaced us. We refugees fell under Communist control. Our way of life changed dramatically for the worse. Many of our freedoms were snatched away immediately. We had to report to daily community meetings for head count each morning and each evening. If you didn’t show up to the meetings and labor calls, you would be eliminated from the food ration list and eventually starve. We had to obtain a permit to visit our relatives living in a neighboring town. There were no cell walls or barbwires around us, but we were living literally inside a jail cell. There was no more freedom of speech; no more freedom of assembly, and no more freedom of religion and other rights that we had previously enjoyed. We learned the value of freedom quickly as we were treated like animals! I am still struggling with which is more important, LIFE or FREEDOM or FREEDOM or LIFE! As the war escalated, there were dead bodies of troops from both sides, everywhere we looked! We sensed South Korea was about to fall under total Communist control. But then, it was almost like magic! American troops arrived and the tide of the war changed very quickly. General MacArthur’s successful Inchon Landing and the US military’s brave intervention saved millions of lives in South Korea and change the future of this country. 1953, I survived the war and could eventually celebrate my 11th birthday when the war ended. My friends who joined my birthday party, they didn’t need to obtain permission to cross the country line. The Communist were gone, and our freedoms was restored. However, the cost of the war was enormous; we lost far too many lives. In early Summer of 1953, I remember playing at Creekside with two friends not far from one of the battlefields. All sudden, we heard thunderous bombing sounds in the sky, and noticed a US fighter plane, hit by enemy fire, was falling from the sky with twisting smoke tail. We, three scared youngsters, ran to the crash site to see if we could help the pilots. We hoped the pilots had ejected and survived the crash. But disappointingly, we found the pilot’s body in pieces. The pilot’s handgun was threaded through his intestine and dangling in a weighted tree branch. We were helpless and shocked. There was a family picture of on the dirt, apparently dropped from the pilot’s pocket when the fighter crashed. We could tell that the pilot was from a great family. He was a son of a graceful looking couple, a father of a handsome young boy and husband of very beautiful woman. I picked up the photograph and wiped off the blood and dirt! The scene of the crash site and that photo is still imprinted in my memory even Today! The pilot is one of 36,516 brave America heroes killed in Korean War while protecting my freedom and my life! GOLD STAR FAMILIES Today, we continue to honor those left behind those who paid a very personal price for us and our nation. And allow me to express my appreciation to you on behalf of all those present today. We are humbled by your sacrifice, inspired by your resilience and grateful for your continued service to your communities. CLOSING AND CALL TO ACTION This Veterans Day, I hope that we can think a moment about what we, the beneficiaries, can do to make the most of the fallen heroes’ ultimate sacrifices. I often wonder about what the fallen heroes would like to see among us?! I would think that some of them tells us, like, “I’ve done my share, you take care of the great nation and educate your next generation good.” If you will, I would like to suggest all of us to make the heroes in Heaven we remember and honor today, happy. Would you like to join me to respond them: Let’s shout together. “WE WILL TAKE OF OUR COUNTRY and EDUCATE OUR NEXT GENERATION GOOD!” Thank you for the opportunity to remembering our men and women in military uniform, and their selfless services.  God bless each of you and God bless my country the United States of America!

Sunny Park CKA award acceptance speech 28 Oct 2023 Good evening! Do you know the life is like a vending machine. The more coins you put in, the more candies drops down. Did you know that? Thank you General Ellis for your kind introduction! General Ellis is a true leader and a soldier of soldiers. With General Ellis, Mrs. Jean Ellis and their lovely daughter Colonel Deborah is here with us. I would also like to thank to my personal friends here with us, from Atlanta, Jacksonville, New York, and from Washington, DC. Paul Kim, Steve Hahn, General Edmunds / Colonel Rick Dean/ Colonel Steve Lee / Command Sergeant Major White/ Ms. Judy McKevitt/ Kiho Kang/ AND, Sang Cho and his bride Yoonjoo from Jacksonville, FL/ and, Jae Kim/ Michael and Sarah Park, Lee Shereve, Amanda Cho from Atlanta/ Larry Henschel of DC! THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING IN MY HONOR! _____________________________ I am here with my daughter Kathy's family from Brooklyn, NY, her husband Rob Price, and my precious grandchildren Greyson and Charlotte. I love you all! I am a Republican. My dear daughter Kathy worked for the New York Times and the Harper's Magazine. We rarely discuss political view points because the family is more important than the politics. ____________________________ I want to thank to the members AND the leaders of CKA, in particularly Dr. Abraham Kim and the board chair Mr. Peter Huh for outstanding leadership! CKA in the past 12 years made grandeur achievements. We are very proud! I am receiving the Award behalf of the first generation of Korean immigrant. I can be bias but the first generation of Korean immigrants, have done remarkable work to build a sturdy foundation for the future of our ethnic group. If you agree, please join me with a round applause to recognize the first generation's contributions. _____________________________ It was September 5, 1974, I arrived the US for the first time, and landed a job and start working the same day, making $1.8 an hour even before I unzip my luggage. During last forty years, I built a business that become one of top 10 privately owned janitorial service providers in the US, with operations in 23 major cities in the US. _________________ Fast forward, a number of years ago, Steve Forbes, the publisher of Forbes magazine, invited me to his yacht The Highlander for a dinner, cruising around beautiful Boston Harbor. I was one of his 24 guests that he was entertaining. The guest list included former PM of Great Britain Margaret Thatcher and Mrs. Nancy Reagan. _______________ At one of WH state dinners I attend, than the First Lady Hillary Clinton asked me to dance with her. She and I swinging around the White House Rotunda.... a Republican and a renown Democrat holds in hand in hand and dance away with the energetic cha cha cha, the Marine Corp Chamber Orchestra plays ... ____________________ In 1998, I became a minority partner of a Morgan Stanley real estate project in Asia. _____________ I use these bragging stories to attract myself to young American audiences, particularly those high school droppouts. Our nation, the land of opportunity, is in trouble because too many, over one million HS students dropping out each year! I started a nonprofit called Good Neighboring Campaign. One of programs called, "If Sunny Can, I Can" to challenge American youth do better in finishing high school education, and become a productive citizen. My "success" story of an Asian immigrant arrived the US with no money and no language became a millionaire; works good in stimulating their ego and pride. By the way, the 3 other awardees this evening have even better stories in helping the USA moving forward! Congratulations to Ashley Park, James Rhee and Song Richardson! __________________________ Likewise, CKA is formed with amazing group of elites. You all should be very proud of yourselves, decided to use this weekend for CKA mission. I am certain that you all belong to the top 20% elites group of the society. The question is: How perfect shape of 20% are you! The imperfect 20%, like just 2 legs for a 3 legged stool, your 20% may be useless without the other 80%. Hope you are following my English? Ultimately, both the 80% group and the 20% group, MUST help each other to enjoy the 100% outcome. Dr. Kim named the award Embrace and Unity award. I guess Abe would like to suggest us work together embrace and invest in our neighborhoods, and unite ourselves for the betterments of our communities and the Ship we all are in, named the US. It is time to put more coins to the vending machine called the US. Together, the integral Americans of Korean ancestry will be the main components of the USA in moving forward! Can the US count on us, is a big question!  May God bless you all, and may God bless my country, the United States of America! Thank you!

The 2023 Korean American Sports Festival Is Yours to Enjoy! Sunny K. Park, Founder, Federation of Korean American Association of the Southeastern U. S. Greetings to all the athletes participating in the 41st Southeast United States Korean American Sports Festival! We created it for you and you to enjoy! Through your participation, our community will be made stronger—the essential ingredient for the future of all Korean Americans and the United States of America. In June 1981, 48 dedicated Korean American community leaders from 18 cities in the six US southeastern states gathered and discussed finding some ideal solutions to building a united community for future Korean American generations. Having an annual sports festival was one of a few plans, and the event has now become a tradition after 40 years. Moreover, we are proud to say that it has also become one of the most popular and effective events for youth among the Korean American community. We have made great progress in the last few decades in bringing our people together. As you can imagine, the efforts of hundreds of community volunteers are required to organize and prepare such an event and the venue. A few oversights may have occurred; while we strive to be perfect, we often can’t be. As such, I would like to challenge each of you to take your own ownership of the festival and help to improve our future events. Please pay attention to newly established Great American Scholarship program. $10,000 and $5,000 scholarships just for college bound Korean American high school students from the Southeastern United States. It is scheduled to take applications in November 2023. I congratulate Mr. Andrew Hong, the chairman, the leadership of the federation, the organizers, and volunteers for the successful sports festival. I hope you all enjoy the day, renew old friendships, and make new ones.

Memorial Day Speech, City of Roswell, GA May 29, 2023 Sunny K. Park INTRODUCTION Good morning! Mr. Dave Young, Mayor Kurt Wilson of the City of Roswell, Mr. John Carruth and fellow Rotarians of the Roswell Rotary Club, Distinguished Guests, Families, Friends and Patriots. Thanks for including me in today’s Memorial Day Ceremony! OBSERVANCE HISTORY Memorial Day commemoration is very special and personal to me. It is a day of national awareness and solemn reverence; a day for us to honor the military men and women who gave their lives in defense of our nation, its values, and our freedom. Memorial Day gives us the opportunity to stop and think about brave Americans who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our great nation. MY STORY GROWING-UP IN SOUTH KOREA I am honored to have the opportunity to share my story of American servicemen I met when I was very young and thank them! As some of you may know, I was born in South Korea, a beautiful country! I often brag about South Korea and how much it has grown since the Korean War; I like to brag about its miracle economy, and how industrialized it has become. However, the miracle economy and advanced technology wouldn’t possible without the contributions of the United States. 2 We are here today to Remember and Honor those American heroes including those who saved South Korea from the tragedies of war. The Korean War broke out on June 25,1950; I was about to celebrate my 8th birthday. The Communist North Koreans in Soviet Union made tanks invaded South Korea in early Sunday morning. Instead of celebrating my birthday, my family and millions of South Koreans fled the South Korea’s Capitol City of Seoul and walked three days and three nights to the South. We were on foot in our escape and realized the North Korean Army had outpaced us. We refugees fell under Communist control. Our way of life changed dramatically for the worse. Many of our freedoms were snatched away immediately. We had to report to daily community meetings for head count each morning and each evening. If you didn’t show up to the meetings and labor calls, you would be eliminated from the food ration list and eventually starve. We had to obtain a permit to visit our relatives living in a neighboring town. There were no cell walls or barbwires around us, but we were living literally inside a jail cell. There was no more freedom of speech; no more freedom of assembly, and no more freedom of religion and other rights that we had previously enjoyed. We learned the value of freedom quickly as we were treated like animals! I am still struggling with which is more important, LIFE or FREEDOM or FREEDOM or LIFE! 3 As the war escalated, there were dead bodies of troops from both sides, everywhere we looked! We sensed South Korea was about to fall under total Communist control. But then, it was almost like magic! American troops arrived and the tide of the war changed very quickly. General MacArthur’s successful Inchon Landing and the US military’s brave intervention saved millions of lives in South Korea and change the future of this country. 1953, I survived the war and could eventually celebrate my 11th birthday when the war ended. My friends who joined my birthday party, they didn’t need to obtain permission to cross the country line. The Communist were gone, and our freedoms was restored. However, the cost of the war was enormous; we lost far too many lives. In early Summer of 1953, I remember playing at Creekside with two friends not far from one of the battlefields. All sudden, we heard thunderous bombing sounds in the sky, and noticed a US fighter plane, hit by enemy fire, was falling from the sky with twisting smoke tail. We, three scared youngsters, ran to the crash site to see if we could help the pilots. We hoped the pilots had ejected and survived the crash. But disappointingly, we found the pilot’s body in pieces. The pilot’s handgun was threaded through his intestine and dangling in a weighted tree branch. 4 We were helpless and shocked. There was a family picture of on the dirt, apparently dropped from the pilot’s pocket when the fighter crashed. We could tell that the pilot was from a great family. He was a son of a graceful looking couple, a father of a handsome young boy and husband of very beautiful woman. I picked up the photograph and wiped off the blood and dirt! The scene of the crash site and that photo is still imprinted in my memory even Today! The pilot is one of 36,516 brave America heroes killed in Korean War while protecting my freedom and my life! GOLD STAR FAMILIES Today, we continue to honor those left behind those who paid a very personal price for us and our nation, our Gold Star families. Could all the Gold Star Family members in the audience to please stand. [PAUSE] And allow me to express my appreciation to you on behalf of all those present today. We are humbled by your sacrifice, inspired by your resilience and grateful for your continued service to your communities. CLOSING AND CALL TO ACTION This Memorial Day, I hope that we can think a moment about what we, the beneficiaries, can do to make the most of the fallen heroes’ ultimate sacrifices. I often wonder about what the fallen heroes would like to see among us?! I would think that some of them tells us, like, 5 “I’ve done my share, you take care of the great nation and educate your next generation good.” If you will, I would like to suggest all of us to make the heroes in Heaven we remember and honor today, happy. Would you like to join me to respond them: Let’s shout together. “WE WILL TAKE OF OUR COUNTRY and EDUCATE OUR NEXT GENERATION GOOD!” Thank you for the opportunity to remembering our men and women in military uniform, and their selfless services. God bless each of you and God bless my country the United States of America!

우리를 미국의 주류가 되도룩 이끄는 동남부 한인회 연합회 박선근 전 연합회장 2022.5.25 동남부 한인회 연합회 창립 40주년을 축하 합니다. 최병일 연합회장과 임원 제위를 비롯하여, 지난 40년간 연합회를 미국에서 모범단체로 이루어 내신 모든 봉사자들께 축하와 감사를 드립니다. 이제는 우리끼리의 모임이 아니라, 우리들이 미국의 일원으로 활약을 해야할 시기가 왔다고 믿습니다. 우리 옛말에, 호랑이는 죽어서 가죽을 남기고, 사람은 이름을 남긴다고 했읍니다. 우리들은 아주 특별하고 축복스러운 이름을 받은 사람들입니다. 바로, 이민 1세 라는 이름입니다! 우리들의 특별한 브랜드라고 생각하시면 적합합니다. 280 마일 밖에 않되는 서울에서 부산으로만 이사를 가더라도 큰 용기와 준비가 필요한데 6-7,000마일이나 떨어져있고, 문화와 언어가 다른 미국으로 이민하는 결심을 하신 우리 이민 1세들의 용기와 각오는 대단한 것입니다. 그 용기를 가지고 그야말로 낯설고 물설은 이 미국 땅에 터전을 잡은 역사를 이루어 놓은 사람들입니다. 그러나, 자칮하면, “용기있는 이민1세”라는 좋은 이름을 가진 우리들이 “자신들만을 위해 후세들의 출세를 막은 추한 이민자” 라는 나쁜 이름을 갖게될 수도 있읍니다. 우리들이 우리들의 후세들에게 남겨 주어야 할 절대적인 유산은, 우리 한인들도 이 나라의 주류이고 실세라는 것을 실감이 나도록 만드는것입니다. 미국의 실세가 되는 일이 생각 보다 쉽습니다. 실세가 된 미국의 역사를 공부하고 실세가 된 사람들의 행적을 따라 하면 가능하다고 봅니다. 독립전쟁 당시 영국계 이민자들이 영국군을 향해 총을 쏘게 했던 그 어려운 결정이 미국의 독립을 가져 왔읍니다. 하지만 바로 그 영국계 이민자들이 오늘 영국을 돕고 있읍니다. 우리들이 시민권 신청서에 서명을 했드시, 미국은 우리의 충성을 요구할 권리가 있고 우리는 반응을 해야 할 의무가 있습니다. 이민자들의 시집인 미국의 이웃과 나라에 봉사를 꾸준히 하는것이 이 나라의 실세로 발전하는 실세로의 첫걸음 입니다. 우리 한인 이민자들은 이 “귀찮은 일”을 해내야 하는 숙명을 스스로 선택한 사람들입니다. 우리들은 나무를 심고, 우리 아이들은 그 나무에 열리는 열매를 따서 이웃과 나누는 역사를 만들어야 합니다. 우리 한인들 모두가 이 나라에서 “기여하고 필요한 이웃” 이라는 브랜드를 만들때 바로 우리들이 주류로서 이 땅에 우뚝 서게 될것입니다.

비 한인들도 포용하는 한인회로 도약 시키는 동남부 한인회 연합회 박선근 전 연합회장 2022.9.17 문화와 언어 등 모든것이 생소한 이민 환경 속에서 동남부 한인회 연합회를 약진하는 마흔살의 성년으로 성장시킨 연합회 회원과 지도자 여러분의 공로에 감사와 경의를 드립니다. 또한, 지난 2년동안 전염병으로 어수선한 시기에 연합회를 잘 이끌어 온 최병일 연합회장의 노고에 박수를 보내 드립니다. 그간 어려운 고비들을 잘 넘기고 슬기로운 결정들을 하신 이사장, 이사, 회장단 임원 제위에게 또한 감사를 드립니다. 더우기, 한인사회를 분열 시키는 조직들과의 차별화 된 전통을 성공적으로 지키고, 동남부 한인회 연합회의 긍지를 지켜온 회원과, 이사진, 회장단의 수준높은 지도력에 크게 감사 드리고자 합니다. 우리 연합회 지도층의 평균 연령이 젊어지고 있는 반가운 현상을 우리들은 만들어 내고 있습니다. 우리 동남부 연합회가 미주 한인사회의 명실공한 모델 단체로 계속 약진을 하려면, 후진들을 내세우고, 그들을 성원하는 변화를 이루어 내야 한다고 믿고 있습니다. 미국 동남부 각 지역 한인회에 10대 20대들이 찾아오고 마음 편하게 어울리는 마당을 우리는 만들수 있을것입니다. 그 다음에는, 비 한인들도 우리 한인회의 회원이 되어 함께 어울리는 한인회를 구축하면서 우리 한인들이 미국의 이웃들을 포용해야 할 시기를 만들어야 될것입니다. 따라서, 우리들의 한인회는, 한인들만을 위한 조직에서 탈피하여, 지역사회를 연합하고 발전 시키는 미국의 모델 기구로 약진을 할수 있을것입니다. 우리 옛말에, 호랑이는 죽어서 가죽을 남기고, 사람은 이름을 남긴다고 했읍니다. 우리들은 아주 특별하고 축복스러운 이름을 받은 사람들입니다. 바로, 이민 1세 라는 이름입니다! 우리들이 바로 그 명품 브랜드라고 생각하시면 적합합니다. 그러나 자칮하면, “자신들만의 안위를 위해 “후배들의 출세에 무관심 했던 선배 이민자” 라는 나쁜 이름을 갖게될 수도 있습니다. 우리 한인들 모두가 이 나라의 지역 사회에서 “기여하고 필요한 이웃” 이라는 브랜드를 만들때 바로 우리들이 이 나라의 주류로서 이 땅에 우뚝 서게 될것이고, 후배들로부터 인정도 받을수 있게 될것입니다. 그렇한 자랑스러운 역사를 창조 시킬수 있는 조직이 바로 우리 동남부 한인회 연합회라고 생각 합니다. 용기가 많은 이민자, 그중에서도 이민1세, 그 중에서도 지도층인 우리들에게 맡겨진 책임은 막중하다고 봅니다. 우리 앞에 놓여진 이 절묘의 기회를 잘 활용 해야 할것입니다. 오늘 이임을 하는 최병일 회장단의 노고에 감사를 드리면서, 약진하는 젊은 홍승원 회장의 출범을 축하 드립니다. 본인을 포함, 우리 회원들은, 새로운 연합회의 성공을 위해서도 성원을 해야 할것입니다.

Acceptance speech: Freedom Award by Georgia Public Policy Foundation. 28 Jan 2020 Thank you, I love you all! Thank you, General Ellis, for your kind and warm introduction. I am proud to receive such recognition from such a distinguished person as you. Thanks to Dr. Michael Youssef, for your prayers and warm comments. I love to be praised! However, I am a little confused, my pastor told me that I am a sinner at the Church buy now he said that I am a fine man. I want to recognize my heroes who fought for my life and freedom; our Korean War veterans! I want to thank Consul General Kim of Korea, for attending this celebration and being present for this honor. Korea is a beautiful country with full of kind and industrialized people, and I strive to honor my heritage! Mr. Nakamura, deputy CG of Japan is here with us, thank you! Thanks to all of you for coming to my bragging party! Thanks to Yoon-Chul Kim, the new president of Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta. I want to thank Renasant Bank and Bartow Morgan, Georgia Ports Authority-Jamie McCurry, Robert Morris, Bart Gobeil, the McCamish Group-Oh we miss Hank!, David Allman, Paul Kim, Frank Barron, Berry College, Steve Briggs, and Joe Woodson of my company GBM, for your sponsorships and support. GPPF is an excellent organization for your investment! I have an old friend came from Korea to celebrate with us. SW Kim is here! There are a few who believed in me and supported me all the way, especially my family and my wife Kay who energized and supported me all the way. Thanks to Oz Nelson, Frank Blake, Senator David Perdue, Bjay Pak, and all of you! There are many others in my list to thank; the list goes very long, longer than the Pharmacy receipt tape! … But Benita warned me to keep it short! Did you see the Freedom Award recipients in the program? I never imagined I would be in the company of such great leaders. I’m still not sure I deserve such recognition. But I know that my mother, Pyunnim Park, would see this differently if she was still alive. She would shout loud to all of you: … “I knew that my son would receive the Freedom Award.” Can you hear her voice? She was my greatest cheerleader! My God and my mother are believed in me through all my life and stood beside me. Thanks to GPPF Board, chair Rogers Wade, Kyle Wingfield, who clearly selected me by an accident. My nonprofit Good Neighboring Foundation will continue to print patriots pocket cards, and print US Constitution books in 3 Asian languages and distribute it to Asian-American communities throughout the U.S. The Cato Institute inspired my team to start it. So, a special thank-you to our keynote speaker, John Allison of Cato! I want to thank to most of all, the United States of America, my adopted nation! I arrived the US in 1974 with $200 in my pocket and very little English. Six hours after I landed, I started a job making $1.80 an hour. The value of $1.80 was about 40 times more in Korea at that time. It can happen only in America! I started cleaning the floors of a steakhouse in Indianapolis. Today, I own a company that employs 3,000 and cleans over 1 million toilets every day in over 25 major US cities. It can happen only in America! This great nation gave me all I needed to reach my “stupid” goal: to pay $1 Million in annual income tax. It took me 17 years but It can happen only in America! A lot of people told me in my old days there is no free lunch in America. I made decision to work hard, to make sure the USA wouldn’t lose money on me, and, America with my devotions, she would be better in shape than the day I arrived. Know this: This is my story, and a story of my fellow immigrants from Asia. We may be perceived as foreigners because of our Asian appearance. But we are making contributions in all sectors of OUR beloved nation. This is a story of America, the Land of Opportunity. Any American can seize it. I call it if Sunny Can, Anyone can! I’m honored to accept this award as a tool to help me influence the lives of young Americans better.  I hope they, including these cadets at Youth Challenge academy, sees me as someone qualified to tell them what to do and what to not do to be successful. This award will help me do a better job for sure. So help me God! Thank you, and may God bless you all!

Sunny Park’s Acceptance Speech for the ICAS Liberty Award, December 3, 2018 Thank you everyone and thank you Senator Perdue for your kind introduction. You have done great job exaggerating about my backgrounds. I like it. You are a true statesman, and we are very proud of you. I appreciate you and Bonnie so much for taking the time out of your busy schedules to join us this evening. You as an “outsider” in Washington, making big impacts for right things for American people. We thank you. Wow! What an honor for this humble janitor to receive the Liberty Award tonight! I wonder what I have done to deserve this distinguished prize. In old Korean proverb, a rabbit is a teacher in the valley with no tigers around. I feel that I am a rabbit where tigers are gone on vacation. I am appreciative of the Institute for Corean-American Studies. Synja Kim, Sang Joo Kim for the award. I also appreciate the selection committee have made the mistake of choosing me—a person certainly at the bottom of the nominees’ list. I want to congratulate Ambassador Hubbard for also receiving the Liberty Award this evening. I am very honored and grateful for the guests at our table: Secretary Sonny Perdue, who is cousin of Senator Perdue, is former governor of the great state of Georgia. He is a rare statesman, and Georgians are proud of his legacy. Congressman Rob Woodall joins us, and he has done a fantastic job for Georgia’s 7th District and our Nation. Congresswoman Amata Radewagen and her husband, Fred, from American Samoa are also here. Congratulations for your successful reelection campaign with landslide victory! She suggested that I visit the beautiful Islands, and I am still rowing… Some of you may have noticed that many of my guests and I share the same blood type, Red, they are proud patriots! We are honored to have a guest from South Korea, Retired Korean Army three-star general Inbum Chun, who makes us proud in many ways. We also have Joshua Lee of the Radio Free Asia here. Thank you so much for coming tonight. ICAS is the reason people have a better understanding of the unique relationship of the US and South Korea. Congratulations for your great accomplishments that ICAS has made since 1973. I solute you for your passion and for your remarkable accomplishments. If I may, I would like to take this opportunity to share my Love Affair for the United States. I was 8 years old when the Korean War broke. North Korean Communists invaded South Korea in June 25, 1950. During the war, I saw many brave American troops arrive in Korea and fought against the Communist North. So many have sacrificed and died for me and millions of South Koreans. After the War, generous Americans provided me and other starving South Koreans relief supplies such as food, clothes, and school supplies. We were so poor and hungry after the war. I had to attach my worn-out pencil to a chop stick with a rubber band to write. Pencils were too short to hold. Our note book was newspapers, we wrote love poems between the lines of war- front news articles. I and my fellow students were praying for pencils and note books. Sure enough, I went to school one morning, and found on my desk brand new yellow No 2 pencils, not one but a dozen, and free of charge. Every student received the precious gifts, new pencils and note books. I still remember the cedar aroma of the pencils. While I enjoy using it, I always thankful for those people sent us these gifts. They are Americans attending the Bible based churches. These Americans provided us with food when we were hungry, sent us warm jackets when we were so cold with no socks, new pencils, and new notebooks. To me, Americans are the bravest and most generous people in the world. Naturally, my admiration for Americans grew bigger as time passes, and I am determined to be an American, to be brave and generous. Fast forward, I finally landed on the US soil, Indianapolis Airport in 1974. I was so excited to be in the land of opportunity. Land of opportunity is for sure, I landed a job on that same day. I, who can’t even speak English, started cleaning a steak house kitchen the same day I arrived, and started making $1.80 an hour. I couldn’t believe there is such a place like America in anywhere in the world. I started thinking on how I can pay back to this great Nation. One of the first things I have done in the US is to learn the lyrics of the National Anthem and practice the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the US. The U. S. deserved my loyalty and respect, I determined to be one of best citizens in the U. S. In this land of opportunity, I will work hard and want to be a rich, rich like Andrew Carnegie, a fellow immigrant from Scotland and become the king of steel. At least for the plan B, I want to be able to pay one million dollars as income taxes per year. Well, I didn’t make the king of anything but I earned the title Chief Executive Janitor, and I am proud of my company, genuine people working hard every day and night. That is the story of my “love affair” for the U.S. So, what should I do with this Liberty Award? I think I will utilize the award to attract my youth audiences. With this award, I may look like a tiger, rather than a rabbit, to those youth audiences, and pay more attention to my mentoring programs for high school dropouts. You probably know but there are about 1.3 Million high school students dropping out each year from high schools in the U.S. I think by helping them to stay in school is a better plan than to take care of them later when many of them end up in jail. The statistics show that about 60% of inmates are high school dropouts. I want to spend time with high school dropouts as a mentor, trying to help them to rehabilitate, and transform to be a productive citizen. My mentoring efforts at Youth Challenge Academies are well intended, but getting and holding the attention of teens can be difficult, as many of you know—or perhaps remember. This Liberty Award will help me to get their attentions, and I may able to do a better job in paying back to America. For that, I thank ICAS for Liberty Award. Together with contributions by all Americans, we will continue to be the land of opportunity hundreds of years to come! May God bless the U. S. A.  I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year!

내가 바뀌는 2020 박선근, 한미우호협회 회장 또 다른 한해가 돌아 왔군요, 영리하기로 알려진 쥐의 해를 새로 맞이하면서 기대가 큽니다. 새해를 맞이 할때면 지난날들을 평가해 보면서 희망 찬 새 열두달을 설계 하는 시간을 갖게 되는데, 즐겁기 그지 없지요. 스스로 낳아주고 길러준 고향과 나라를 등지고 문화와 언어 등 너무나도 다른것이 많은 나라 미국에 식구들의 팔을 이끌고 이민을 한 우리들은 받은 은혜를 갚아야 할 일이 너무나 많습니다. 충성을 해야 할 나라의 숫자도 두개로 늘어 났고, 외우고 열창을 해야할 애국가도 두개를 갖게 되었습니다. 어떻게 보면, 그동안의 이민 생활을 통하여 루어 놓은것이 있는것같기도 하지만, 조금 다른 각도에서 견주어 보면 너무 한쪽으로 기울어진 삶을 산것같기도 합니다. 이민자로서 바쁘게 살았지만 시간의 관리를 제대로 하고 살았나 하는 회의도 듭니다. “미국 땅에 자랑스러운 한국의 문화를 심고 미국 주류 사회에 공여 해야” 한다고 말은 많이 했지만, 우리들의 주변이나 자식들의 시각으로는 어떻게 평가 되는지 모르겠습니다.  새해에는, 쥐처럼 영리하게 살고자 합니다. 바꿀수가 없는 것을 바꾸어 보려고 바둥대는 삶을 끝내야 되겠다고 다짐해 봅니다. 예를 들어서, 바꿀수 없는 과거에 뭍혀서 살지 않고 바꿀수 있는 장래를 즐기며 살아 가렵니다. 새해에는, 바꿀수 없는 타인들, 관계에 오해가 있는 사람들의 마음 자세 를 바꾸려 하지 않고, 바꿀수 있는 나의 관념과 인식을 바꾸어 보겠습니다. “똥 묻은 되지가 겨 묻은 되지를 나무란다” 는 한국의 속담이 있습니다. 똥이 잔뜩 묻은 오점 투성이의 내가, 나 보다 훨씬 작은 쥐 보다 좀 영리하고 실질적으로 행동하고 모범을 보이는 새해를 만들려고 노력해 보겠습니다.

You Are Remarkable Americans! Sunny K. Park, Founder, Korean American Federation of the SE of the United States June 8, 2018 Greetings to the participating Korean-American athletes of the 38 th Southeast United States Korean American Sports Festival. You have decided to join the historical Korean- American event on June 8-9, 2018. You should realize that you are not only competing for yourself and your team, but immensely helping the community to unite. With your participation, we are stronger and larger community, be able to serve our neighbors and the United States better. You are remarkable Americans! On June 1981, 48 dedicated Korean American community leaders from 18 major cities in the Southeastern United States gathered in Atlanta to discuss solutions to build a united community for future Korean American generations. One of solutions was to have an annual sport’s festival for Korean American youth which you are making it this weekend. Moreover, we are proud to say that it became one of the most popular and effective Korean-American events for youth across the Korean-American communities in the U. S. We have made remarkable progress in the last decades by uniting communities across the Region into one strong community. As you can imagine, preparation is exhausting with hundreds of community leaders investing their time to organize to ensure athletes and observers will have the best experience possible. Planning and execution never goes to plan, but I challenge each of you to take ownership in the Festival and Federation to help progress and improve by volunteering to take the time to help leadership and organizers in future events. I would like to ask you to join me to thank the leadership of the Federation of Korean Americans, Southeast and organizers of the Sports Festival. Mr. Hwan Son, president; Mr. Seong Won Hong-Secretary General and the leadership of your local Korean American Association, and many volunteers invested a great deal of time and efforts for the Festival successful. Would you join me to express our appreciation when you see each of them? This Festival is for you to enjoy and make it better. On behalf of the founders of the Festival. I wish you the best in your competition. Most important, have a great time, remember to renew old friendships and make new friends! Please remember that regardless your team win or lose, the Korean American Community, together, is winning!

SUNNY PARK SPEECH BELHAVEN UNIV COMMENCEMENT 16 DEC 2017 WOW, HOW DO I LOOK? I AM NOW ONE OF YOU! A BLAZER! YOU ARE ALL MEGNIFICENT! I AM EXCITED TO BE JOINING THE GREEN TEAM! THANK YOU, DR. PARROTT, FOR YOUR KIND INTRODUCTION AND WARM WELCOME! AND THANKS ALSO FOR THIS GOWN. I AM HONORED TO RECEIVE AN HONORARY DOCTORATE FROM BELHAVEN, AND I ACCEPT THE INVITATION TO BE A MEMBER OF BELHAVEN UNIVERSITY. THANKS TO ALL OF YOU, DR. PARROTT, AND THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES! MY LATE MOTHER TAUGHT ME THAT I MUST DO MY BEST IN WHATEVER I DO, SO I DETERMINED THAT I WOULD BE AN EXCELLENT JANITOR—AND I GUESS I AM! NOT MANY JANITORS HAVE HONORARY DOCTORATE….. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT GOD’S INTENTION TO BRING ME TO BELHAVEN IS; BUT I AM SURE THAT HE HAS PLANS TO USE SOME OF MY ABILITIES FOR THE BETTERMENT OF BELHAVEN STUDENTS. PRAISE GOD! SOME OF YOU MAY THINK FROM TIME TO TIME THAT LIFE IS NOT FAIR. YOU HAD TO INVEST YEARS OF HARD WORK, STUDY, AND RESEARCH TO EARN YOUR BACHELOR’S DEGREE OR MASTER’S DEGREE. BUT I AM GETTING A DOCTORATE WITH JUST A 20-MINUTE SPEECH. IT SURE DOESN’T SOUND FAIR. HOWEVER, I WILL NOW GIVE YOU SOME TIPS AND HINTS TO HELP YOU MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR DEGREE FROM BELHAVEN, WHICH IS ALREADY A GREAT HONOR AND ACCOMPLISHMENT. HOPEFULLY THAT MAKES US ALL FAIR AND SQUARE. TALKING ABOUT FAIR: WHEN YOU SEE A TURTLE SITTING PROUDLY ON A FENCE POST, YOU SURELY KNOW THAT THE TURTLE DIDN’T MAKE IT TO THE TOP ALL ALONE. NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO RECOGNIZE YOUR TEACHERS AND YOUR PARENTS, YOUR SPOUSE IF YOU HAVE ONE, YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS, FRIENDS, THE BELHAVEN COMMUNITY, AND—MOST OF ALL—OUR GOD, WHO HAS ENERGIZED US IN EVERY WAY. WOULD YOU RECOGNIZE THEM WITH A THUNDEROUS ROUND OF APPLAUSE? LIFT UP OUR GOD! I LOVE BELHAVEN UNIVERSITY! I WAS HERE FOR THE FIRST TIME ON JUNE 27 OF LAST YEAR WHEN DR. BILLY KIM INVITED ME TO THE GRAND OPENING CEREMONY OF THE BILLY KIM INTERNATIONAL CENTER, A BEAUTIFUL NEW FACILITY IN THE CENTER OF THE BELHAVEN CAMPUS. I ASKED DR. KIM, WHO IS MY HERO, “WHY DID YOU CHOOSE BELHAVEN, WHICH IS SO FAR AWAY FROM SOUTH KOREA?” HE SAID WITHOUT HESITATION: IT IS ALL ABOUT DR. PARROTT. DR. KIM BECAME A FAN OF DR. PARROTT WHEN THEY MET FOR THE FIRST TIME. HE LOVES DR. PARROTT’S PASSION REGARDING HIS BELHAVEN STUDENTS. I, TOO, SAW THE SAME PASSION OF DR. PARROTT FOR HIS BELHAVEN STUDENTS. YOU ARE TRULY BLESSED! CLASS OF 2017! YOU ARE OPENING ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING CHAPTERS OF YOUR LIFE. THE WORLD NEEDS YOU, AND THE WORLD IS WAITING FOR YOU! IT IS TIME TO MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT YOU LEARNED, AND IT IS ALSO TIME TO COLLECT YOUR REWARDS! DR. PARROTT CALLED ME A FEW MONTHS AGO AND ASKED ME WITH YOU ALL AND FIRE YOU UP—TO GIVE YOU SOME STIMULATION AND TO BOOST YOUR EGOS ON THIS IMPORTANT DAY. WHAT DR. PARROTT REALLY WANTS TO ACCOMPLISH TODAY AS HE RELEASES YOU TO THE OPEN SEA IS: “LISTEN TO A BROKEN-ENGLISH-SPEAKING ASIAN IMMIGRANT BRAG ABOUT HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS. LET HIM PUMP YOU UP SO THAT YOU WILL DETERMINE TO MAKE YOUR LIFE EVEN GRANDER THAN HIS IS.” IN SHORT, HE THINKS IF ANYHTING SUNNY CAN, YOU CAN! SO, HERE I AM. THINK OF ME LIKE A QUARTERBACK, AND I HAVE A FEW PASSES TO THROW AT YOU. THINK OF YOURSELF LIKE A WIDE RECEIVER. YOU MUST PAY FULL ATTENTION TO WHERE THE BALL GOES TO MAKE YOUR OWN TOUCHDOWN. HERE WE GO! I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN SOUTH KOREA. I CAME TO THE UNITED STATES WITH $200 IN MY POCKET. I CAME HERE TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF WHAT THIS COUNTRY—A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY—OFFERS, AND TO ENJOY FREEDOM. AS I MOVE TO THE U. S., I DETERMINED TO BE LIKE MY IDOL, ANDREW CARNEGIE, A FELLOW IMMIGRANT FROM SCOTLAND IN THE LATE 19TH CENTURY. HE IMMIGRATED TO THE US WITH HIS FAMILY AT AGE 9, WITH NO MONEY. HE HELPED HIS MOTHER WORK AT A BOBBIN FACTORY AS A YOUNG BOY. VERY POOR FAMILY IN PITTSBURG AREA. AS YOU KNOW, HE BECAME THE KING OF STEEL, AS THE OWNER OF U.S. STEEL, AND HE BUILT 2,509 LIBRARIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD. HE WAS A GREAT PHILANTHROPIST WHO HELPED PEOPLE LEARN—AND TO LEARN TO MAKE A LIVING. I THOUGHT TO MYSELF: WHATEVER MR. CARNEGIE DID, I SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO, EXCEPT FOR THE SMOKING AND DRINKING. TODAY, I’M NOT THE KING OF STEEL, BUT I AM A KING OF CLEANING. AS I SETTLED IN THIS NEW LAND, I SET A FEW GOALS. ONE OF THEM IS THAT I WOULD BE ONE OF THE BEST CITIZENS THIS NATION HAS EVER HAD. ABOUT 15 YEARS AFTER I MOVED TO THE US, MY PATRIOTISM FOR THIS GREAT COUNTRY WAS RECOGNIZED WITH AWARDS LIKE THE USO PATRIOT AWARD, THE AMERICANISM MEDAL, AND THE PATRICK HENRY TROPHY. ONE OF MY OTHER GOALS WAS TO MAKE ENOUGH MONEY IN THIS LAND OF OPPORTUNITY TO PAY $1 MILLION OR MORE IN ANNUAL INCOME TAX. IN MY EARLY DAYS IN THIS COUNTRY, THE LIST OF THE HIGHEST U. S. TAXPAYERS’ WAS AN INSPIRATION TO ME. WHAT I FOUND OUT THAT MANY OF THOSE HIGHEST TAX PAYERS BACKGROUNDS ARE NORMAL AS ANYONE I KNOW. THEY DIDN’T HAVE HORNS OR TAILS BUT JUST LIKE YOU AND ME. I MADE A BOLD DECISION TO BE ON THAT LIST ONE DAY. MAKING SUCH COMMITMENTS WHILE EARNING ONLY $1.80 AN HOUR AS A JANITOR SOUNDS CRAZY. WHAT DO YOU THINK? DO YOU JNOW WHAT? IT TOOK ME ONLY 17 YEARS TO REACH THAT GOAL! HOW ABOUT A ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR THIS BRAGGER? GOD IS AMAZING! AND THE U. S. IS A GREAT COUNTRY! I SET A GOAL TO PAY $1 MILLION IN ANNUAL INCOME TAX, AND GOD HAS HELPED ME—HAS MADE ME—ACHIEVE THAT GOAL. I ALSO BELIEVE THAT THE U. S. IS ONLY PLACE I COULD DO THAT. FROM TIME TO TIME I WOULD THINK: WHY DIDN’T I SET A GOAL OF PAYING $1 BILLION IN TAX? I WOULD HAVE BEEN A THOUSAND TIMES LARGER A BUSINESSMAN, LIKE MR. ANDREW CARNEGIE. I GUARANTEE THAT GOD WOULD HAVE MADE ME A MUCH LARGER BUSINESS OWNER IF I RAISED THE BAR TO $1 BILLION TAX TO PAY. NO DOUBT ABOUT IT! ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ME SAYING THIS? I AM SAYING THAT MY SUCCESS OR FAILURE IS TOTALLY UP TO ME—NOT MY BOSSES, NOR MY FRIENDS, NOR MY MENTORS, BUT UP TO ME ALONE! I AM THE DRIVER OF MY LIFE! THINK ABOUT THIS! $1B IS 1,000 TIMES LESS THAN $1T. IT IS NO DIFFERENT THAN $1,000 TO A MAN HAVE $1. I USE MONEY TO MEASURE MY SUCCESS BECAUSE I AM A BUSINESSMAN. I AM SURE THAT YOU UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE HUNDREDS WAYS TO MAKE LIFE HAPPY, PROUD AND SUCCESSFUL. ALTIMATELY, GLORIFY OUR GOD! I ONCE WAS A DREAMER, EVEN THOUGH MY LATE MAMA TAUGHT ME TO BE AN ACHIEVER. SHE TOLD ME THAT DREAMERS OFTEN FALL ASLEEP. I ONCE SPENT TIME DREAMING ABOUT IF MY RICH RELATIVES OR MY RICH FRIENDS WOULD SHARE THEIR WEALTH WITH ME. OH MAN, AM I GLAD I DIDN’T HOLD MY BREATH! I WAS STILL SO ASHAMED OF MYSELF, AS I WAS THINKING LIKE A BEGGAR. MY ALMIGHTY GOD HAD ALREADY PROVIDED ALL THE TOOLS I NEEDED: MY BRAIN TO THINK, MUSCLES TO ACT, LEGS TO REACH, A HEART SO THAT I WOULD MAKE THE RIGHT DECISIONS. GOD ALSO SUPPLIES ME WITH 24 NEW HOURS EVERY DAY—ALL FOR FREE. GOD GIVES ME MORE THAN ENOUGH TO MAKE MY LIFE GRANDER. ALL I NEED TO DO IS MAKE THE MOST OF THOSE TOOLS, ESPECIALLY TIME! I WOKE UP ONE DAY FROM DREAM, AND STARTED USING THE TOOLS GOD GAVE ME. ELBOW GREASE WAS ONE OF MAJOR TOOLS! I STARTED GENERAL BUILDING MAINTENANCE IN 1983, AT THE AGE OF 39. THAT COMPANY HAS NOW GROWN TO BECOME ONE OF THE TOP 25 JANITORIAL SERVICE PROVIDERS IN THE US. YOU MAY AGREE WITH ME THAT I AM ONE OF MANY EXAMPLES THAT THE UNITED STATES IS THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY! NO WHERE IN THE WORLD LIKE IT! IF ANYONE TELLS YOU AMERICA IS NO LONGER A LAND OF OPPORTUNITY, YOU HAD BETTER RUN FROM THAT PERSON AS FAST AS YOU CAN, BECAUSE HE AIN’T YOUR FRIEND. TO BUILD A COMPANY AND MAKE ENOUGH PROFIT TO PAY $1 MILLION IN INCOME TAX EVERY YEAR, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, WAS NOT EASY. I HAD TO WORK EXTRA HARD EVERY DAY, LOSING A LOT OF FAMILY TIME AND WEEKEND GETAWAYS. SOME PEOPLE CALL IT SACRIFICE, BUT I CALL IT AN INVESTMENT FOR THE FUTURE. DO YOU KNOW WHAT? WORKING 75 HOURS PER WEEK DIDN’T BREAK MY BONES! IT ACTUALLY HELPED ME TO MAINTAIN GOOD HEALTH. IN FACT, I ALSO SAVED A FEW DOLLARS ON MEMBERSHIP FEES TO HEALTH CLUBS. I NEEDED TO SAVE THAT SO I COULD PAY MORE TAXES. ++++ SOME PEOPLE WANT TO HEAR ABOUT MY FIRST DAY IN THE US. HOW COULD A FOREIGNER WHO SPEAKS NO ENGLISH FIND A PLACE TO LIVE, FIND A DESCENTJOB, MAKE FRIENDS, AND REGISTER FOR SCHOOL? I LANDED AT THE INDIANAPOLIS AIRPORT AT 2 PM ON SEPTEMBER 5, 1974, AND HAD FOUND A JOB BY 4 PM THAT SAME DAY. I WASTED NO TIME! I BECAME A JANITOR AT A STEAKHOUSE AND STARTED CLEANING THE KITCHEN FLOOR THAT VERY NIGHT. AFTER SEVEN HOURS ENTERED TO THE U. S. AIRSPACE, I WAS MAKING 41.80 AN HOUR WHICH IS ABOUT $10 TODAY. I WORKED THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT. REPORTED TO WORK AT 11 AT NIGHT AND CHECKED OUT BY 7 THE NEXT MORNING. I WORKED VERY HARD CLEANING THOSE RESTAURANT KITCHEN FLOOR TILES. ONCE THEY HAD BEEN COVERED WITH THICK, BLACK LAYERS OF ANIMAL FAT, BUT AFTER I GOT THERE, THEY WERE CLEAN AS A HOTEL LOBBY. I TREATED THAT NIGHT-SHIFT CLEANING JOB WITH RESPECT—AS AN ASSIGNMENT OF GOD! I DID MY BEST. BESIDES, I DIDN’T WANT MY EMPLOYER, WHO PROVIDED ME A GOOD JOB, TO EVER LOSE MONEY ON ME. I DIDN’T WANT TO BE A TAKER, BUT A GIVER, AS MY MAMA TOLD ME. NOW, THE REAL STORY I WANT TO SHARE! REMEMBER WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS IN JOB 8:7? YOUR BEGINNINGS WILL SEEM HUMBLE, SO PROSPEROUS WILL YOUR FUTURE BE. TRUE AS ALWAYS! NINE YEARS LATER IN 1983, I STARTED A JANITORIAL SERVICE CONTRACTING BUSINESS. YES, A JANITOR BECAME AN OWNER OF A LARGE JANITORIAL SERVICE COMPANY. MY SPEECH TODAY HAS COVERED SOME OF THE BRIGHT SIDES OF MY LIFE. I AM SURE SOME OF YOU EXPERIENCE DIFFICULT TIMES. MAYBE YOUR ISSUES ARE RELATED TO YOUR FAMILY, FINANCES, HEALTH, OR FRIENDS. AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, I HAD DIFFICULT TIMES AS WELL. BEFORE I STARTED MY JANITORIAL SERVICE COMPANY, I WAS A LIFE INSURANCE SALESMAN FOR THE NEW YORK LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY. MY WIFE GAVE BIRTH TO A CHILD, A PRECIOUS SON, BUT SHE DIED 106 DAYS LATER. I RAISED AN INFANT BABY, AND A FOUR-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, AND RAN TO TWO JOBS FOR EIGHT YEARS ALL BY MYSELF. YOU CAN IMAGINE, THE LIFE EXPERIENCE OF A SINGLE FATHER WITH VERY LITTLE INCOME, RUNNING AROUND TO MULTIPLE BABYSITTERS, DROP OFF THE OLDER CHILD TO SCHOOL, HURRYING TO THE HOSPITAL WHEN MY BABY WAS SICK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, CHANGING THE DIAPERS, DEALING WITH A BABY WITH A FEVER. IT WAS A LITTLE HASSLE. DO YOU KNOW WHAT? I NEVER FELT HARDSHIP DURING THOSE YEARS. RATHER, I ENJOYED RAISING MY KIDS. IN FACT, I WAS ENJOYING TESTING MYSELF TO SEE HOW FAR I COULD GO! IT IS UP TO ME TO MAKE MY SITUATION PLEASANT OR DIFFICULT. IT IS ALL UP TO ME TO CONTROL THE SITUATION. OF COURSE, GOD WAS THERE EVERY TIME I PRAYED. PRAISE GOD! GRADUATES . . . SUCCESS IN ANY FIELD IS DOABLE! IF YOU EVER DISAPPOINTED AT YOURSELF, THINK ABOUT MY OTHER IDOL, THE LATE TRUETT CATHY, FOUNDER OF CHICK-FIL-A RESTAURANTS, HE WROTE HIS FIRST BOOK IN 1989. THE TITLE: IT IS EASIER TO SUCCEED THAN TO FAIL, I LOVE THE BOOK TITLE. MR. CATHY BELIEVED THAT SUCCESS IS POSSIBLE FOR ANYONE WHEN THEY DO WHAT IS RIGHT FOR OTHERS PERSISTENTLY. MR. CATHY WROTE OTHER BOOKS, TOO, AND ALL OF THEM ARE GREAT. INSPIRE MORE PEOPLE IS THE ONE I’D MOST LIKE FOR YOU TO READ. ACTUALLY, I BROUGHT THAT BOOK FOR YOU. PLEASE TAKE ONE ON YOUR WAY OUT AS MY GRADUATION GIFT. GRACIOUSLY, DAN CATHY, MR. CATHY’S SON AND NOW CEO OF CHICK-FIL-A, HAS ALSO SENT ALL OF YOU A GIFT CARD FOR A FREE CHICK-FIL-A SANDWICH AS A WAY TO CONGRATULATE EACH OF YOU ON YOUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS. PLEASE THANK DAN CATHY WHEN AND IF YOU MEET HIM SOME DAY. BEFORE I CONCLUDE MY SPEECH, I WANT TO SUM UP MY MESSAGES FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO SLEPT DURING MY SPEECH. I ALSO HOPE YOU BROUGHT YOUR NOTE BOOK TO WRITE IT DOWN. ARE YOU LISTENING? 1. IN ORDER TO HAVE MORE OF THE GOOD THINGS IN YOUR LIFE: TREAT OTHERS THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED. (MATTHEW 7:12) IF YOU PLANT CORN, YOU WILL HARVEST CORN. WHEN YOU PLANT A GRACEFUL SEED, YOU WILL HARVEST GRACEFUL CROPS IN ONE HUNDRED FOLD. JESUS ASSURED IT IN MARK 10:31, AND I EXPERIENCED IT. 2. IF YOU EVER FEEL YOU ARE UP AGAINST A WALL AND HAVE NO WAY TO GET OUT, DON’T SIT THERE LIKE A DOUNTED PERSON. PRAY TO GOD FIRST, AND THINK OF ME. IF ANYTHING SUNNY CAN, YOU CAN! MAY GOD BLESS ALL OF YOU, AND HAVE VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

실패하기보다 쉬운 성공 The Korean American CBMC CEO School, Atlanta, June 11, 2010 박선근 GBM 건물 관리회사 회장 훌륭한 사업 경영인은 정직하게 작성된 사업계획을 만들고, 그 성취를 위하여 반복되는 노력을 정확하게 하므로서 창조 되는것이다. 무대위에 선 배우가 준비한 대사를 하나도 빠짐없이 연기 해야 되드시, 확정한 사업 계획서를 반복해가며 이행 해야 한다. 세계적으로 유명한 기독 실업인인 Mr. Truitt Cathy씨는 그의 저서 It’s Easier to Succeed Than to Fail 을 통하여 하나님이 준비해 주신 사업 성공 비결을 그대로 행사 하기만 하면 그 사업을 성공 시킬수 있다고 주장 한다. 묵묵히 7일간 여리고성을 돌면 그성이 무너지리란 하나님의 말씀을 (수6장) 주저없이 믿고, 시키는대로 “바보”처럼 여리고 성을 돌아 그 성을 무너트린 여호수와와 그 이스라엘 백성들의 믿음과 행동을 보면, 그까짓 사업체 하나둘 성공 시키는것은 “식은 죽” 먹는것처럼 쉽다고 본다. 다만, 꾸준하지 못하거나, 믿음이 약하거나, 욕심을 내거나, 건너뛰기를 하며는, 즉, 공식대로 모든 절차를 제대로 거치지 않으면 실패를 할수 있다. 여호수아 6장 수 6:1) 이스라엘 자손들로 말미암아 여리고 는 굳게 닫혔고 출입하는 자가 없더라 (수 6:2) 여호와께서 여호수아 에게 이르시되 보라 내가 여리고 와 그 왕과 용사들을 네 손에 넘겨 주었으니 신7:24 (수 6:3) 너희 모든 군사는 그 성을 둘러 성 주위를 매일 한 번씩 돌되 엿새 동안을 그리하라 (수 6:4) 제사장 일곱은 일곱 양각 나팔을 잡고 언약궤 앞에서 나아갈 것이요 일곱째 날에는 그 성을 일곱 번 돌며 그 제사장 들은 나팔을 불 것이며 삿7:16 (수 6:5) 제사장 들이 양각 나팔을 길게 불어 그 나팔 소리가 너희에게 들릴 때에는 백성은 다 큰 소리로 외쳐 부를 것이라 그리하면 그 성벽이 무너져 내리리니 백성은 각기 앞으로 올라갈지니라 하시매 (수 6:6) 눈 의 아들 여호수아 가 제사장 들을 불러 그들에게 이르되 너희는 언약궤를 메고 제사장 일곱은 양각 나팔 일곱을 잡고 여호와의 궤 앞에서 나아가라 하고 (수 6:7) 또 백성에게 이르되 나아가서 그 성을 돌되 무장한 자들이 여호와의 궤 앞에서 나아갈지니라 하니라 (수 6:8) ○여호수아가 백성에게 이르기를 마치매 제사장 일곱은 양각 나팔 일곱을 잡고 여호와 앞에서 나아가며 나팔을 불고 여호와의 언약궤는 그 뒤를 따르며 수4:13 (수 6:9) 그 무장한 자들은 나팔 부는 제사장 들 앞에서 행진하며 후군은 궤 뒤를 따르고 제사장 들 은 나팔을 불며 행진하더라 사52:12 (수 6:10) 여호수아 가 백성에게 명령하여 이르되 너희는 외치지 말며 너희 음성을 들리게 하지 말며 너희 입에서 아무 말도 내지 말라 그리하다가 내가 너희에게 명령하여 외치라 하는 날에 외칠지니라 하고 (수 6:11) 여호와의 궤가 그 성을 한 번 돌게 하고 그들이 진영으로 들어와서 진영에서 자니라 (수 6:12) ○또 여호수아 가 아침에 일찍이 일어나니 제사장 들이 여호와의 궤를 메고 (수 6:13) 제사장 일곱은 양각 나팔 일곱을 잡고 여호와의 궤 앞에서 계속 행진하며 나팔을 불고 무장한 자들은 그 앞에 행진하며 후군은 여호와의 궤 뒤를 따르고 제사장 들은 나팔을 불며 행진하니라 수6:4 (수 6:14) 그 둘째 날에도 그 성을 한 번 돌고 진영으로 돌아오니라 엿새 동안을 이같이 행하니라 (수 6:15) ○일곱째 날 새벽에 그들이 일찍이 일어나서 전과 같은 방식으로 그 성을 일곱 번 도니 그 성을 일곱 번 돌기는 그 날뿐이었더라 (수 6:16) 일곱 번째에 제사장 들이 나팔을 불 때에 여호수아 가 백성에게 이르되 외치라 여호와께서 너희에게 이 성을 주셨느니라 수6:20 (수 6:17) 이 성과 그 가운데에 있는 모든 것은 여호와께 온전히 바치되 기생 라합 과 그 집에 동거하는 자는 모두 살려 주라 이는 우리가 보낸 사자들을 그가 숨겨 주었음이니라 수2:4 (수 6:18) 너희는 온전히 바치고 그 바친 것 중에서 어떤 것이든지 취하여 너희가 이스라엘 진영으로 바치는 것이 되게 하여 고통을 당하게 되지 아니하도록 오직 너희는 그 바친 물건에 손대지 말라 신7:26 , 신13:17 , 수7:1 (수 6:19) 은금과 동철 기구들은 다 여호와께 구별될 것이니 그것을 여호와의 곳간에 들일지니라 하니라 (수 6:20) 이에 백성은 외치고 제사장 들은 나팔을 불매 백성이 나팔 소리를 들을 때에 크게 소리 질러 외치니 성벽이 무너져 내린지라 백성이 각기 앞으로 나아가 그 성에 들어가서 그 성을 점령하고 아멘!

우리가 바로그 실세입니다! 박선근 좋은이웃되기운동 본부 사무국장 2012 CBMC Dallas대회 22 June 2012 살롬! 형제 자매 여러분, 여러 형제자매님들과 하나님의 풍성한 은혜를 나누는 귀한 시간을 주신 하나님께 오직 영광을 드리고자 합니다. 이 성대한 자리에서 보잘 것 없는 본인을 불러 주신 KCBMC 권정 총회장님, 은종국 부총회장님, 그리고 원로 제위와 지도층에 감사를 드립니다. 저는 뉴욕에서 열린 2001년 한인CBMC대회 행사에 애틀랜타의 이승남 회장님과 뉴욕의 강현석 전 총회장님의 초청으로 처음 참여하였었으며, CBMC가 가진 큰 능력을 보았고, 그 혜택을 크게 입은 사람입니다. 한인사회 내에 많은 단체가 활약을 하고 있읍니다. 그 단체들 중에는 발전을 이루고 있는 단체도 있고, 있으나 마나한 단체도 있는데, 발전하는 단체들의 특징을 보면 창립 당시의 초심을 지키려는 지도부를 가지고 있습니다. 제가 겪은 한인 CBMC는 명실공히 초심을 지키며 건전하게 발전하여 많은 분들의 존경을 받고 있는 모범단체로 자리를 잡았다고 인정받고 있습니다. 오늘, 저는 ‘이민자’라는 특별한 신분을 갖게된 우리들의 현실에 대해 말하고자 합니다. 능력이 모자라는 제가, 여러분과 엄청난 하나님의 은총을 나누기에는 여러분들의 힘있는 기도가 필요합니다. 여러분과 제가 함께할 이 시간을 위해서 어느 성령 충만한 분께서 기도해주시면 좋겠습니다. 한분 나서 주십시요! <사업 성공의 비결: 눅 11장 9절> 감사합니다! 힘이 납니다! 우선, 우리들의 주업인 사업을 잘하는 주제를 다루어 보고자 합니다. 사업 성공이라면 기라성 같은 분들이 이 자리에 모여 계시지만, 우선 저의 이민 경로와 사업 경영에 관련된 간증을 드리도록 하겠읍니다. 저는 1974년 계절에 비해 빠르게 첫 눈이 내리는 9월 7일에 미국으로 이주해 왔읍니다. 시카고 오헤어 공항에서 인디애나로 가는 비행기를 갈아 탔는데 옆자리의 남자 승객이 다 보고난 신문을 넘겨주길래 그것을 받아들고 짧은 비행시간 동안 신문의 구직란을 검색하였읍니다. 본인의 눈에 띈 구인 광고는 어느 스테익 하우스 식당에서 청소하는 사람을 구하는 것이었읍니다. 비행기가 인디애나에 도착하였고 저는 가방을 찾자 마자 바로 인근에 있는 공중전화로 가서 그 식당에 전화를 했습니다. 영어가 잘 안통하는 저는, 종이에 할 말을 적은후 그것을 전화 수화기에다 대고 여러번 계속 읽어 댔읍니다. I am Sun Keun Park, just arrived Indiana Airport, and responding to your ad. Can I come by your restaurant for an interview? 수화기 저쪽에서 들려오던 소리가 근 40년 이후에도 내 귀에 생생합니다. 지금 와도 좋다는 대답이었읍니다. 저는, 부랴부랴 짐을 택시 트렁크에다 던저 넣으며, 신문에 적힌 Curtis Steak House식당의 주소를 택시 운전사에게 주고 갈길을 재촉했읍니다. 식당에서 만난 지배인이 몇가지 질문을 하더니 시간당 $1.65를 줄테니 관심있으면, 당장 오늘 밤부터 일을 시작 하라고 했습니다. 그래서 밤11시, 여독이 않풀린 몸을 이끌고 출근을 했읍니다. 정든 한국을 떠난 시간이 7일 오전 11시였는데, 바로 그 같은 날 오후 11시에 꿈에도 생각치 못했던 첫 직장으로 출근을 하게 되었던 것입니다. 저는 출근을 준비 하면서 제가 오랫동안 의심을 하면서도 은근히 기대했던 하나님의 말씀 한 구절을 붙잡고 울면서 감사를 드렸읍니다. 바로 누가복음 11장 9절 말씀입니다. 여러분, 죄송하지만 모두 자리에서 일어나 주십시요! 하나님의 말씀을 올려 드리겠읍니다! "So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 함께, “내가 또 너희에게 이르노니, 구하라 그러면 너희에게 주실 것이요, 찾으라 그러면 찾아낼 것이요, 문을 두드리라 그러면 너희에게 열릴 것이니” (11:10구하는 이마다 받을 것이요 찾는 이는 찾아낼 것이요 두드리는 이에게는 열릴 것이니라) 이것이 저의 미국에서의 첫날 이야기입니다. 이 직장 이후, 프라이빗 골프장의 식당으로 옮겨서 팁을 많이 받는 웨이타를 하게 되었는데 이때도 인자한 식당 지배인이 웨이터 수업을 시켜주면서 제가 홀로 설 수 있도록 도움을 주었읍니다! 저는 이후, 영어가 서툴면서도 생명보험 외판원으로 근무하였읍니다. 저는 그 첫해에 외판원이 28명이나 되는 뉴욕라이프 인디애나 지사에서 상위의 판매 실적을 기록했습니다. 영어가 20% 정도 양호했지만 회사 전체 신입사원 수련대회에서 300여명의 신입 사원들이 실시한 선거에 출마해 기 대표로 당선이 되었읍니다. 저는 수락 연설을 통해, 제가 오랫동안 의심을 하면서도 은근히 기대했던 그 하나님의 말씀을 또 증거했습니다. 어느 말씀이라고 생각 되세요? 바로 누가복음 11장 9절!입니다. 얼마 후, 우연치 않게 자동차 소개업을 겸하게 되었읍니다. 그때 새파란 총각이었던 은종국 회장을 만났지만요. 그후 1983년에 건물 청소 용역업을 시작하였고 올해가 창립 29주년이 되는 해이며, 약 3,000명의 식구가 종사하고 있읍니다. 또한 저는 예비역 4성 장군과 동업으로 Ellis Enterprises라는 군납 회사를 경영하고 있습니다. 지금은 시작이지만 사업이 아주 잘 될것입니다! 이제 5년 밖에 안된 회사인데 잘될지 안될지 어떻게 아느냐고요? 짐작이 가세요? 제가 무엇을 믿고 이렇게 큰소리를 치는지요? 맞습니다! 제가 의심과 기대를 해가며 봉독하던 바로 그 누가복음 11:9 말씀입니다! 드드려라! 열릴것이다! 할렐루야! 저와 저의 동업자 엘리스 장군은 회사 수익금을 기준으로 하여 10의 1조를 드리도록 회사 정관에 적어 놓았읍니다. 달랑 $200을 꽁꽁 싸들고 온 미국이지만, 1년에 1백만불의 소득세를 낼 정도가 되었으면 스스로 축하를 할 정도가 되었다고 생각이 들지 않으세요? 그러나, 저의 생각은 다릅니다. 소가 뒷걸음 치다가 쥐 잡는 것을 보신 분이 계세요? 손을 들어봐 주십시요? 없군요. 여러분, 바로 그 소가 여기에 서 있읍니다! 접니다. 제가 한 일이라고는 소가 주인이 시키는대로 밭을 갈듯이 하나님으로부터 주어진 능력을 부지런히 사용한 것입니다. 그러고 보니, 이 방 안에 쥐잡은 소가 저 말고도 꽤 있는것같읍니다. 어디서 쇠똥 냄새가 나는가 했었읍니다. 어떤 분들은 저에게 성공한 사업가라는 이름을 붙여 주지만 저는 무엇이든 필요한 것을 구하면 어김없이 주시는 하나님의 특별한 사랑에 힘입어 살고 있는 사람들 중에 하나일 뿐입니다. <한인사회의 문제> 여러분! 저의 이민 이야기를 드린 것이지만, 여러분들은 어떻게 생각 하세요, 우리들 대부분의 이민 이야기가 아닐까요? 아멘 ? 그러나, 저와 여러분 앞에 심각한 문제가 있습니다! 우리들 미국 이민 사업이 개인적으로는 기반이 잡힌 듯 보입니다마는, 우리 미주 한인 커뮤니티, 즉, 우리 한인사회는 아직도 이민의 기반이 약합니다. 여러 이유가 있겠지만 많은 한인 이민자들은 스스로를 미국 사회로부터 고립시켜 왔습니다. 또한, 우리들은 소수이며 약한 민족이라는 것을 느끼며 주눅이 든 상태로 살아가고 있읍니다. 많은 한인들이 미국사회를 보고 “주류사회”라고 말합니다. 그러면, 우리는 무엇입니까? 지류사회입니까? 하나님께서 우리들 보고 뒷줄에 서 있는 것으로 만족하라고 가르치셨나요? 하나님께서는 스스로 “2류”를 자처하는 우리들을 보시고 실망하실 것이라고 생각해 보신 적이 있나요? 우리는, 농부의 곁다리에 붙어있는 거머리도 아니요, 악어의 등에서 악어가 먹이를 잡을 때를 기다리는 악어새도 아님을 여러분께 선포합니다! 우리는 미국의 주류사회에서 으뜸가는 4번 타자의 역할을 할 수 있는 재능과 기회 가운데 서 있읍니다! 우리 모두는 열심히 노력해서 번 이익금으로 꼬박꼬박 세금을 납부하며 살아가는 미합중국의 충성스럽고 엄연한 국민입니다. 우리의 자녀들은 사회와 군대에서 열심히 나라와 국민들을 위해서 봉사를 하고 있습니다! 한인 전사자의 숫자가 두자리 숫자가 되었읍니다! 우리의 자녀들은, 대체적으로 학교나 직장에서 으뜸가는 지위를 유지합니다. 우리는 벤치에 앉아있는 방관자가 아니며 이 나라의 4번 타자, 즉 main streamer(주류)인 것입니다. 물론, 알고 있습니다. 우리들의 현실을 눈물을 흘리며 보고 있습니다. 우리는 이 나라 인구의 0.6% 밖에 안되는 소수민족이고 생긴 것도 왜소하고 “영원한 외국인”처럼 인식 되어 있읍니다. 우리들은 passive 한 사람들, 즉 수동적인 민족으로 타민족에 인식되어 있고 한번씩 건드려도 실쭉 한번 웃고 대항을 안하는, 문제를 피해 다니는 사람들처럼 알려저 있읍니다. 제 말씀이 틀렸읍니까? 제발 틀렸으면 좋겠습니다! 우리는 다른 민족들 보다 한참 늦게 이 나라에 이주해 왔읍니다. 학생이 교실에 조금만 지각을 해도 수업시간에 약간 주눅이 들게 되어 있는 것은 인간의 본능입니다. 그렇다고 하루 종일 지각한 것만 생각하고 뒷쪽에만 있을 수 없지 않습니까? 이곳 달라스에 내리면서 유명한 기업가 출신이면서 1992년과 96년에 대통령 선거에 출마 하셨던 Ross Perot씨와의 만남을 생각해 보았읍니다. 기억하세요? 키가 X자루만큼 작고 못생긴 얼굴을 가지신 분, 카랑카랑한 목소리로 이 나라에 세금이 너무 많다고 선거 유세를 하던 분 말입니다. 이분은 해군 전역후 IBM에서 컴퓨터 외판원으로 사회생활을 시작하여 첫 2주 동안에 1년치 판매 할당분을 팔았던 기록을 갖고 있읍니다. 자기의 의견을 무시하는 회사 근무가 시시해서 사직을 하고, 1962년에 Dallas에서 EDS라는 자기 사업을 시작하였는데 우여곡절 끝에 연방 정부의 data processing 계약을 하게 되었고 그 결과 $16짜리 증권이 하루 사이에 $160이 되는 돈벼락을 맡았던 분입니다. 그러나 이 정부 계약이 성사되기까지 Mr. Perot이 77번의 계약 실패를 경험하였다는 것을 아는 사람들은 많지 않습니다. 이분은 어렸을때 보이스카웃에서 키가 제일 작았지만 이곳에서 리더쉽을 터득하였고 해군사관학교에서는 대대장으로 선출되었는데 키가 제일 적은 생도가 키가 큰 대대원들을 통솔하였던 것입니다. 많은 이들은 이분이 Naval Academy, Boy Scout, IBM, EDS경영에서 우수한 실적을 보이게 된 배경에는 왜소하고 못생긴 자신의 모습을 노력으로 커버해야 된다는 집념의 결과라고 평가합니다. 이 잣대를 우리들에게 대보면 우리 한인들은 키가 작고 눈이 작은 동양인의 모습을 가진 것이 오히려 장점으로 활용될 수 있다고 생각해 보았습니다. <자랑스런 이름, 이민 1세 !> 옛말에 호랑이는 죽어서 가죽을 남기고 사람은 이름을 남긴다고 했읍니다. 우리들은 아주 특별하고 축복스러운 이름을 받은 사람들입니다. 바로, ‘이민 1세’라는 이름입니다! 우리들의 특별한 브랜드라고 생각하시면 적합합니다. 성경은 하나님의 축복이 이름에 임한다고 말합니다. "너에게 복을 주어, 너의 이름을 빛나게 할 것이다."(창12:2) 280 마일 밖에 안되는 서울에서 부산으로만 이사를 가더라도 큰 용기와 준비가 필요한데 6-7,000마일이나 떨어져 있고, 문화와 언어가 판이하게 다른 미국으로 이민하는 결심을 하신 우리 이민 1세들의 용기와 각오는 대단한 것입니다! 우리들 스스로가 자랑스럽지 않읍니까? 우리 스스로에게 큰 박수를 처 주실까요? 우리는 실로 대단한 용기를 가진 사람들입니다! 그 용기를 가지고 그야말로 낯설고 물설은 이 미국 땅에 터전을 잡았읍니다. 정말 대단한 역사를 이루어 놓은 것이지요! 그러나, 한가지 꼭 집고 넘어 가야할 일이 있읍니다. 바로 우리들이 데리고 온 가족과 자식들입니다. 한국에서는 대개 남자가 집안의 대소사를 결정하는 역할을 합니다. 따라서 우리 아이들은 자신들의 의사와 관계없이 부모를 따라 이민을 왔거나 미국에서 소수민족의 모습으로 태어났습니다. 한국에서 계속 살았으면 상상도 할 필요가 없는 부정적인 여건들을 갖게된 이들에게 그 당사자, 우리 부모들은 무엇으로 설명을 해 주어야 합니까? 운명이라고 말해주고 슬그머니 외면을 해 버릴까요? 잘못하면 “용기있는 이민1세”라는 좋은 이름을 가진 우리들이 “자신들만을 위해 가족을 희생시킨 추한 이민자” 라는 나쁜 이름을 갖게될 수도 있습니다. 죄송하지만 저주도 이름에 임합니다."악인의 이름은 썩으리라"(잠10:7) 이런 우리의 현실을 생각하면 등골이 오싹합니다. 우리들의 여력이 남아 있을때 후손에게 화려하지는 못해도 집을 지을 수 있는 토대를 준비해 주고 떠나야 자식들과 그 아이의 자식들이 이 나라에서 기둥과 석가래를 올리고 어깨를 피고 살 것이 아닙니까? 우리들이 후세들에게 남겨 주어야 할 절대적인 유산은 한인들도 이 나라의 주류이고 실세라는 것을 실감이 나도록 만드는 것입니다. 어느 분들은 저에게 “답답한 소리” 작작하라고 핀잔을 줄 지도 모릅니다. 누구는 그러면 좋겠다는것을 몰라서 못하는 줄 아느냐고 겻눈질을 할지도 모르겠습니다. 영어도 안되고 밥먹고 사는 것도 힘든데 후세들 토대까지 생각할 겨를이 있겠느냐고 생각할지도 모르겠습니다. 그러나, 저는 그분들에게 그와 같은 실망스러운 생각으로 남들까지 “김새게” 하지 말라고 항의하고자 합니다. 그러니까 타민족들이 우리를 우습게 본다고 생각합니다. 그런 반응은 ‘나태한 패배자의 관념’으로 밖에는 보이지 않습니다. 저와 여러분이 걸어온 이민 역사를 돌아 보세요! 깡 하나 가지고 오늘을 이루어 낸 우리들입니다! 저는 20%정도의 좋은 영어 실력을 가지고 미국 농부들에게 생명보험을 팔았던 사람입니다. 여러분, 제가 그정도 영어 실력으로 어떻게 미국인들에게 생명보험을 팔았는지 궁금하지 않으세요? 물론, 생명보험 판매와 관련된 영어를 달달 외워 가지고 다녔지만 서투른 영어와 외국인 용모가 큰 몫을 해 주었습니다. 무슨 소리를 하고 있냐구요? 간단합니다. 한번 들어 보시겠어요? 제가 말할 때 저의 고객은 조용합니다. 서투르게 언어를 하는 이에게 잘 알아 들으려는 것은 인간의 본능이거든요. 그들의 저의 설명에 온갖 정성을 쏟아가며 경청을 합니다. 잘 아시겠지만, 세일즈맨이 손님의 귀를 차지하면 대개 그 판매는 성공하게 되어 있습니다. 한가지 예를 더 들어 볼까요? 저는 미국 이민 생활을 하면서 백악관, 국방성, USO, The Daughters of American Revolution, 주정부 등의 기관으로부터 미국의 애국자에게 주는 메달과 상을 받았읍니다. 어려분, 제가 정말 미국에 기여한 충성도가 상을 받을만큼 탁월해서 메달을 받았을까요? 우리끼리만 하는 얘기지만요, 외국에서 이민 온 이민1세가 미국 애국가를 외어서 부르고 국가에 봉사를 한다고 서툴게나마 참여를 하니까 기특하게 보였을 것입니다. 좌우간 우리들은 긍정적인 면이 많습니다. 저의 경우만 말씀드렸지만 우리 이민사회에는, 특히 바로 여러분들에게도 용맹함이 많은 것을 잘 알고 있읍니다. 결론적으로 우리들이 후세에게 집을 지을 토대를 마련해 주지 못할 핑계가 하나도 없다는 것을 강조드리고 싶은 것입니다. 정말 다행스러운것은 우리에게 아직 시간이 남아 있다는 것입니다. 우리는 미국의 어느 민족보다 큰 용기를 가지고 있읍니다. 약간은”무대뽀”이기도 합니다마는... 자! 이제, 그 용기와 지혜를 써서 마지막 스퍼트를 내야 합니다. 더우기 우리에게는 우리들이 구하는것을 이루어 주시는 하나님이 계시지 않습니까? 아멘? <좋은이웃되기의 중요성> 그러면, 무엇을 어떻게 시작해야 우리들의 토대를 이 땅에 세울 수 있을까요? 함께 고민해가며 기도 속에서 좋은 방안과 지혜가 나와야 하겠지만, 우선, 저희들, 좋은이웃되기운동(GNC) 본부에서 지난 12년동안 연구 개발해 실시한 시행 계획을 가지고 시작할 수 있을 것입니다. 먼저, 분명히 할 것이 있습니다. 우리들의 “이민 토대 구축 공사”가 성공리에 완공된다는 것은 우리 한인들의 위치가 “외국인이자 외국편인 사람들”에서 “미국에 충성하고 기여하는 미국인”으로 바뀌는 것을 의미합니다. 김씨 댁의 처녀가 이씨 댁으로 출가를 하였는데 이 새색씨가 몸은 이씨 댁에 있지만 김씨 쪽만 바라보고 기웃거리는 모습을 우리들에게서 볼 수 있읍니다. 검은 머리가 파뿌리처럼 희어저 죽을 때까지 이씨 댁의 사람으로 자리를 매김하기 전에는 이 새색씨는 이씨 댁에서 환영을 받고 살기가 힘이 들 것입니다. 여러분, 미국기인 성조기를 바라보면서 가슴이 뜨거워지는 연습이 필요합니다. 이것은 이민자로 선택을 받았기에 피할 수 없는 숙명입니다. 애굽에서 이민자로 성공한 요셉의 생을 기록한 창세기 39장에서 우리들은 하나님이 주신 지혜를 찾을 수 있읍니다. 그는 자기 민족을 영위하면서도 애굽에 끈기있게 충성하였고 인정을 받아 큰 벼슬까지 지냈습니다. 이를 위해 우선 중요한 것은 1) 우리들이 소속할 나라를 정해야 합니다. 빠를수록 좋습니다. 하나님은 마태복음 6:24절을 통해서 두 주인을 섬기지 못한다고 못을 박아 주셨읍니다. 우리들, 장사꾼들의 계산으로라도 양다리 걸치고 두 나라를 왔다 갔다하면 많은 것을 낭비할 수 밖에 없다는 것을 잘 알고 있습니다. 이민선배들인 이태리계와 그리스계 등 남부 유럽 이민자들의 늦은 동화에서도 지혜를 배울 수 있습니다. 최근 한국에서 재외동포들도 선거에 참여할 수 있게 법을 바꾸자 한인사회에서는 때아닌 한국 선거운동이 벌어지고 있읍니다. 어느 한국 정치인들은 "한인사회의 화합과 발전을 책임지겠다"고 선언하고 또 다른 이들은 "해외교포는 한국의 재산"이라면서 우리에게 접근합니다. 이들은 미주 한인사회를 한국과 자기 당(黨)의 식민조직으로 착각하고 있는 것 같습니다. 이에 현혹 되지 말아야 합니다. 잘못하면 우리들은 자식들 앞에서 고개를 들지 못할수도 있읍니다. 독립전쟁 당시 영국계 이민자들이 영국군을 향해 총을 쏘게 했던 그 어려운 결정이 미국의 독립을 가져 왔읍니다. 하지만 바로 그 영국계 이민자들이 오늘 영국을 돕고 있읍니다. 미국은 우리의 충성을 기다리고 있고 우리는 화답해야 할 의무가 있습니다. 친정인 한국은 가슴에 묻어 두고 한국의 그늘로부터 서둘러 독립을 해야합니다. 그것이 우리가 미국에서 뿌리를 내리고 이 나라의 실세로 발전하는 첫 걸음 입니다. 우리 한인들이 우리 이웃들로부터 미국의 실세로서 인정을 받을 때 비로소 우리들의 조국을 시시한 투표 몇 표로 한 정당을 돕는 것이 아니라 실력있는 미국인으로서 한국이라는 우리들의 조국을 정말 크게 도울 수 있을 것입니다. 다음으로는, 2) 이웃과 지역사회에 참여하고 봉사함으로 이웃으로부터 “기여하고 필요한 좋은 이웃”으로 인정받아야 합니다. 자녀들은 부모들의 이웃사회 봉사노력을 보고 많은 것을 배울 것입니다. 우리들 이웃과의 교류가 우선해야 합니다. 한인교회들의 해외 선교 붐을 각 지역사회 친교 붐으로 유도하는것이 필요합니다. 멀리 사는 한인 친구들만 집에 초청할 것이 아니고 이웃들도 함께 불러 교제를 갖는 것이 우리들의 이민 토대를 구축하는데 더 도움이 될것입니다. 이웃 가운데 어려운 일을 겪는 이가 있다면 교회의 한인 교우가 아픔을 겪는 것과 같은 생각이 들어야 진정한 이웃이라고 생각합니다. 그전에는 그들도 우리와 우리 자녀들의 아픔과 어려움에 관심을 갖지 않을 것입니다. 압니다! 여러분들도 이런 생각이 옳다고 생각하고 계심을 잘 압니다. 문제는 언어와 문화가 다른데 귀찮게 한인이 아닌 사람들까지 부르기가 쉽지 않다는 이야기입니다. 그러나 우리는 이 귀찮은 일을 해내야 하는 숙명을 스스로 선택한 사람들입니다. 이민1세 특유의 용기를 발휘해야 합니다! 해보세요, 몇번만 해 보시면, 이력이 납니다. 우리들은 잘할 수 있습니다. <좋은이웃되기운동 동참> 우리가 이같은 좋은이웃이 되기 위해서는 구체적이고 효과적인 방법이 필요합니다. 미국을 내 나라로 품기 위해서는 먼저 미국을 알아야 합니다. 미국이 어떤 나라인지, 미국의 역사, 정치, 경제, 사회, 종교 등을 죽 알아가다보면 미국에 대한 관심과 애착이 생기면서 자연스럽게 미국을 가슴을 품을 수 있다고 봅니다. 좋은이웃되기운동에서는 ‘케이아메리칸 포스트’(KAP)라는 온란인 매체를 통해 미국에 대한 정보를 소개하고 있습니다. 지난 2년동안 3,000개 이상의 미국에 대한 다양한 정보와 소식을 정리해서 이메일로 한인 1세들에게 무료로 제공하고 있습니다. 신청하시면 케이아메리칸 포스트를 통해 주옥같이 선택된 미국에 대한 뉴스와 자료를 받아보실 수 있습니다. 문 밖에는 우리 본부의 이상민 디렉터가 여러분들의 호응을 애타게 그러나 외롭게 기다리고 있읍니다. 들리셔서 이메일 주소를 주시면 주옥같이 선택된 미국에 대한 뉴스와 자료를 자주 받아 보실수 있읍니다. 이민1세들이 지역사회에 참여하고 봉사하기 위해서는 작고 쉬운 것부터 해야 합니다. 그러다보면 재미가 생기면서 더 하게 됩니다. 좋은이웃되기운동은 교회 앞길 등을 청소하는 ‘길 입양 운동’, 한인교회가 1년에 한번 지역경찰과 소방공무원을 초대해 저녁식사를 대접하는 ‘커뮤니티 감사의 밤’ 등을 소개해 이민1세들이 좀 더 쉽게 지역사회에 참여하고 봉사할 수 있도록 안내하고 있습니다. 또 미국 국가와 국기에 대한 맹세를 영어, 한글발음, 한글번역으로 정리한 ‘애국포켓카드’를 배포해 한인들이 가사를 몰라 미국가를 부르지 못하는 일이 없도록 돕고 있습니다. 이 카드를 받은 많은 한인1세들이 지갑에 넣고 다니다 필요할 때 사용하면서 미국의 실세로서의 자신감을 갖게 되었습니다. 이 밖에 미국예절스쿨, 이민자포럼, 미국역사클래스 등 여러 활동으로 많은 한인들이 환영받는 이웃이 될 수 있다는 자신감을 갖게 되었습니다. <결론> 중요한 것은 이웃을 향한 우리들의 노력이 꾸준해야 한다는 것입니다. 한두번으로는 안 되며, 의도적으로는 더욱 아닙니다. 가슴과 가슴이 통하는 교류가 유지되지 않고는 우리들의 토대는 모래 땅일 뿐입니다. 묵묵히 7일 간 여리고성을 돌면 그성이 무너지리란 하나님의 말씀을 (수6장) 주저없이 믿고, 하나님이 시키는대로 “바보”처럼 여리고 성을 돌아 그 성을 무너트린 여호수와와 그 이스라엘 백성들의 믿음과 행동에서 교훈을 받을 수 있읍니다. 마지막으로 여러분께서 이웃과의 교제를 더욱 돈독하게 이루시면서 주변의 다른 한인들도 이 노력을 함께 할 수 있도록 장려해 주시기 바랍니다! 우리 한인들 모두가 이 나라에서 “기여하고 필요한 이웃”이라는 브랜드를 만들 때 바로 우리들이 주류로서 이 땅에 우뚝 서게 될 것입니다. 바로 우리가 이 나라의 실세라는 것을 마음 속 깊이 새기시고, 앞으로는 고개를 높이 들고 앞자리를 차지하시는 분들이 한인 사회에 넘처 나기를 바랍니다. 주님께서도 우리들의 늠늠한 모습을 보시면 더욱 기뻐 하실 것입니다. 경청해 주셔서 대단히 감사합니다. 시간이 약간 남았읍니다. 하나님 앞에 기도 드린 후 우리 좋은이웃되기 운동의 시행 요강에 대한 질문이나 건의가 있으시면 함께 토의해 보겠읍니다! 기도: 전능의 거룩하신 아버지 하나님, 우리들을 특별히 선택하시어 이 나라 미국에 이민을 오게 해 주시고 축복으로 감싸주신 큰 은혜를 진심으로 감사드립니다! 이제 저희들이 미국의 시민으로서 떳떳하게 살아가기를 원하며, 이웃과 나라에 기여하여 반석같은 이민의 토대를 만들기로 결심하게 도와주시옵소서! 주님! 우리 후손들이 우리들이 만들어 놓은 토대 위에 견고한 집을 지을 수 있게 축복과 지혜 그리고 용기를 계속 내려 주시옵소서! 우리가 원해서 정착한 우리들의 새 나라 미국과 그 국민들, 그리고 지도자들에게 무궁한 축복과 독수리의 용기를 계속 보내 주시옵소서! 세계 각지에서 그들의 자유를 보호해 주기 위해 고생하며 싸우는 우리 군인들을 각별히 보호해 주시고, 특히 우리 한인계 미국 병사들을 긍휼로 보살펴 주시옵소서! 우리들을 낳아준 조국 대한민국을 위해서, 배고픔과 무서움 속에서 살고 있는 북한의 동포들에게, 전지전능하신 당신의 보호가 있으시기를 간절히 기도합니다! CBMC회원들과 그 가족들, 그리고 사업장과 종사자들 위에 그리고 우리들의 이웃들에게 하나님의 가호가 있기를 기도합니다! 부활의 예수 그리스도 이름으로 간절히 기도드립니다! 아멘!

DAR Americanism Award Speech Sunny K. Park December 10, 2005 Ansley Country Club, Atlanta, GA  Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! I want to thank the award selection committee members for your bad job in selecting the wrong person for the award. I am not sure that I should be the one to receive such a distinguished award. The immigrant community contains so many other patriots who love America and would die for America. They may not be visible to the mainstream community because they are usually rather quiet, but their numbers are so great, you can’t even count them. You noticed me because I perhaps talk a little too much, based on my close friend’s evaluation, but I am thankful to my mother Chung Pyung-nim, who trained me to be a bigmouth. I want to thank to Ms. Nancy Jordan and Ms. Lynn Brackey for their devoted leadership of DAR. Every American knows that DAR is a large organization of wonderful and patriotic people, but after getting to know Nancy and Lynn, I realize that they are tenacious and beautiful people as well. America should be proud of those two and all of you—the members of this chapter of DAR. If I may, I would like to thank my friends who came today to help me celebrate this honor: [names go here.] I want also to thank my family, my children, and my employees for their unconditional support as I run around the country and do whatever it is that I do. As an American, and particularly as an immigrant American and a naturalized citizen of this great nation, I am truly honored at the recognition from an organization like DAR. In my travels, I find that some people need reminding that immigrants didn’t come to the United States only with economic goals in their minds, but they also brought long-held values to their new country. In some respects, these values hearken back to the America of old. While many observers wonder where America’s values have gone, I’d like to say that these same observers might look to America’s recent immigrants to discover what might be missing. I’m talking about values like a strong work ethic and what are considered to be old-fashioned moral standards. But while we welcome legal immigrants—with their work ethic and their values and their morals—and encourage them to become new citizens, I am not sure we are doing a good enough job in training them as American citizens. Think about it: What does an employer do when hiring a new employee? Train them, of course! Gives the new worker a good introduction to the company’s history and culture, makes sure the new hire understands the reason for the hire, introduces the new hire to his or her fellow employees, teaches about the company’s unique way of doing business, and so on. This way, the company will have more productivity from the efforts of the new employee, and the new employee will find more enjoyment in the new job. On the other hand, what happens if an employer doesn’t train new employees at all? They will work according to the rules and culture of their former employers, because they don’t know the difference. So, my contention is that America, in its role as host for the new citizens we accept every day, is obligated to invest more time and effort in guiding them to become the types of citizens American needs. Make sure they understand the reason we are granting the citizenship. Inform them about the rules and culture of this country. Teach American history and lore so new citizens can love and serve this nation like you and I do. If we don’t, they will live like in the old days in their former countries, with their old rules and priorities. Frankly, we might not like the results. If we don’t start guiding these new citizens soon enough, and with the number of new citizens increasing, America could soon become more like the countries our new citizens left, rather than the America that they came to embrace and that we’d like to keep. By not training immigrants better than we do, we have a certain recipe for chaos. But I will tell you one thing more. I am still so optimistic about America’s future! Our system has been improving over the last 229 years, and we will continue to prosper. DAR members: I strongly believe that America will continue to be the best place on earth because of your roles as caretakers of this nation. It was September 13, 1985, when I first met a member of DAR. I will never forget the DAR volunteer who greeted me with a big smile as I walked out of the courtroom where I had just been sworn in as a new American. Her sweater was probably a double XL, and her smile was even bigger than that. Aside from her smile, she also gave me a small red rose, not to mention a small American flag that I still keep in our china cabinet. More than anything, she gave me some lessons that had an impact that lasts to this day: America is full of love and care! America is full of volunteers! I am here because American needs me! I made up my mind at that moment. I will be the best citizen this nation ever had, and I mean ever! Let me return the favor of the lady in the big sweater by telling you again my important message for today: There are so many patriots in immigrant communities, but they are quiet. We need to stimulate and empower these sleeping giants. We love America! With you, we want to take care of this great nation, and make this nation an even better place to live and die for. I want you to count me in! I want you to count in also my fellow immigrants, who will help me take care of this great nation. Merry Christmas to you all! God bless the troops on the front lines! And God bless the U.S. of A.!

Networking 101 OKTA Atlanta Speech by Sunny K. Park Friday 21 June 2013 Why do we run business? Why do we want to build successful business? 우리는 왜 사업을 하려나? 왜 성공적 사업가가 되려고 하나? Can we achieve successful business if we want? 성공을 원하면 성공을 하나요? 돈을 벌려면 돈이 벌리던가요? 성공은 버는(earn) 것이다. When should you network? Who helps you to be successful? 사람들, 주변의 사람들, 그리고, 그사람들의 주변 사람들 What does networking mean? “다단계 마케팅 수법,” “부탁을 하기 위한 인맥 조성” 이라는 부정적 이미지가 있다. 나와 내가 가진 가칠를 필요로 하는 사람들과 만나고 나의 가치를 알린다. 특히, 한국에서는 “빽” 이 있어야 나를 알릴수 있는데, 미국에서는 스스로 알릴수가 있다. Share My Story of Morgan Stanley: Northridge Janitor-Exceptional Quality Work-Invited to Speak at Board Meeting-Earn More Business-Invited to Join Their Asian Investment-Japanese Business Connection-Chinese Business Connection-Great Britain (New Castle) Business Connection. I AM STILL CHIEF EXECUTIVE JANITOR! Why is it important to network? 감추어진 보석은 그 가치가 약하다. 나의 특징과 가치를 다른이에게 알릴수 있는 기회를 창조 한다. How can you develop a robust professional network? 황금률 실천에 기초한, 기여하고 주려는 의도가 있는 만남을 가저라 자신 개인이나 사업체의 기량과 역량을 늘리거나 보태지 말고 정확하게 알려라. 언행이 일치하는 경험을 보여라. Manage Network? Serve Network? What do you call the machine making computer network? Server! Server! Servers must Maintained! Lastly! 밥을 먹으면 변소를 가게 되어 있드시, 돈은 진정하고 꾸준한 황금률 실천노력의 副産物 이다. Money is by product! So What? What are going to do with your success, money, fame? Enjoy it! Make Most of it, use it for good reasons!

Globalization: Are you ready (speech) Greetings President Colley, thank you for your kind introduction, it was a little exaggerated one but I like it. Thank you very much! President Nielson, President Colley, Director General Adamis, Dean Dhir, distinguished panel, professors, guests and students, Introduction I am honored to being a part of your effort to assist our future leaders to be successful in their global world competition. I am in bldg maintenance business based in Atlanta with 2,200 plus workers. I am also involved in international business, invest in real estate, once partnering with Morgan Stanley in Asia. I develop shopping centers, residential subdivisions and invest in raw lands for future development. Doing business internationally is an exciting but requires a different kind of mind sets. I will do what I can to visualize the competitiveness and future strategy to take advantage to win in the international economy. English language I guess I got picked because my unique backgrounds and my English accents which possibly will make the globalization conference a realistic one. I learned my English from the GIs who serve in Korea, some from New Jersey, some from Texas and some from Georgia and Tennessee. Some educated and some were not formally educated. My English teacher in my middle school was a Korean who learned English from a Japanese teacher who learned his English from an Australian English teacher. So you will be taking the conference in global English. So, don’t blame me for my hard-to-understand English accents but blame those GIs and my English teachers. Talking about English, the language is one of many important factors doing business in international market. Thus, you are fortunate to have English as your native language because English is the international language. Well, except those French people, I heard. Globalization Today Truly, it is an exciting day for me to be here and speak to you, who will make the world different as your time comes. Globalization today is inevitable and effecting in pretty much in all areas. Foods, people, environmentally, economically, politically, culturally, between the people of the world, you name it. Nowadays we find more and more restaurants serves foods from all different continents. They call it fusion foods, and I called it confusion foods. I would like to ask a few questions. How many of you eat sushi? How about sushi pizza? Well, pizza is an Italian food anyway. How many of you tried Kimchi, a Korean pungent pickled cabbage? How many of you used chop sticks to eat meals? Anyone watched the movie Karate Kids? Do you remember the Master Unagi san catches mosquito with his chop sticks? McDonald’s Hamburgers and Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwiches sold in restaurants everywhere, Seoul, Moscow, Buenos Iris, Tokyo, Shanghai and many other countries. I was in North Georgia mountain village a few years ago and found out those people eats rattle snake, people in Kansas City pickled or fried those rattle snakes and eat them as appetizers. I never could imagine any Georgian would ever eat raw fish for dinner instead of fried chicken and sweet potatoes and green beans. Globalization means in many ways is a trend and a way of life. Conflicts in Iraq, a small country, size of California, three thousands miles away directly impact in our life style. The inferno in the oil wells in Iraq we saw in TV we are seeing directly effects to our pockets and in our environment. The flu or SARS symptom started in Kwang-jou, China, a city seven thousand miles away took only 72 hours to make a trip to the West coast of United States. American blue jeans became a uniform of young people of the global world. We are witnessing the change of the world in a fast pace, pretty much in all areas. The New York Times no longer covers only New York area news but the world news. Consequently, you will end up meeting more new friends and business associates from other parts of the world. Yao! How many of you know who Yao Ming is? Yao is a professional basket ball player for Houston Rockets and NBA Rookie of the Year of 2003 and just one of dozen foreign basket ball players in NBA. Sammy Sosa of Chicago Cubs from Honduras, Chan-ho Park of Texas Rangers from South Korea and many others plays in Major League baseball clubs. You can easily see American sports players in Japan, Korea and other countries while many of golf professionals play in PGA and LPGA in the United States. CNN of Atlanta and other media delivers news from every corner of the world in every half an hour. We watched the detail scenes of the War from the Iraqi desert, live, even to the American living rooms. Fiber optic telecommunication technology carries information of the world to other side of the globe faster than the speed of sounds. We are living in time hear the news of Bangladesh flood before we hear the tornado touch down news in South Georgia. WTO Are YOU ready? Lets talk about the international trade and businesses. Some of us heard the story of 88 day Around the World in early 60’s but today, the supersonic jets can fly the around the world in just a half day. The cargo plane left China with merchandise today will be landing Atlanta Airport tomorrow. The merchandise will be on the store shelf of the Wal-Mart in Rome, GA by this weekend. This means the Romans in Georgia can purchase the Chinese made goods in a very low price. Our competitiveness is weaker than most of other countries, we have very tough competition in manufacturing. The average Chinese workers paid about $100 per month while their average living cost is about $60 per month. And, they work about twice longer hours than American workers because they work 12 hours per day and work on Saturdays. Our labor cost is about 13 times expensive than China today. Many American manufacturers moved their assembly lines to out side United Stets to take advantage of the low labor cost as American blue color worker’s average wage is about $1,600 per month while the living cost is about $1,300 per month. Scared? I was and I wish you are! Globalization is here to stay and it is rapidly expanding. Are YOU ready? Are We Ready? Sure we do! Let us focus on economical side of the globalization, particularly how it effects to Georgians. Georgia became very important center location of American global economy. Georgia’s international business starts at the Hartsfield International Airport and Savannah Sea Port. Not like old days, air transportation system is essential way to meet the needs in the global economy and Atlanta is located in the center of the Southeast. Atlanta metropolitan area will continue to grow and the population of Georgia will reach well above 10 million people by 2025 per US Census Bureau, 2000. Given situation and resources are important factors to take advantage. But we must have to have people with international mind and skill to take advantage of the given situation is more important. State of Georgia has excellent team with creative I want to ask you a question: Can anyone tell us who is leading the Georgia Dept of Industry, Trade and Tourism? It is Mr. Glenn Cornell, Berry’s own alum and the Georgia’s pride and I am thrilled to see him to lead the important mission. I am confident that Mr. Cornell will improve the Georgia international business. I can tell he has received Miss Martha Berry’s education with her vision. Miss Berry went to travel New York but Glenn will be going to Europe, Asia and South American countries. One of most important assets Georgia has is the people. Georgians are friendly, educated, highly productive and kind people. If we have time, I would like to share the resources of Georgia has and what Georgia offers to potential investors in Georgia. I would like to take a moment to appreciate Mr. Tim Evans at GA dept of Industry, Trade and Tourism for the data and information he sent. (Power Point or explain Georgia data if Power Point is not available) What can you do to be a part of the growth? Now, are you ready to be a part of the growth of Georgia, the tenth largest state in US? It is up to the individuals whether they will be a part of the growing world or isolate them selves from it. I know a quiet a few people left Atlanta and move to the North Georgia and Tennessee mountains to get away from the new expansion of the city. My good friend Steve, born in Atlanta, moved out to Lilburn, once a small town of Gwinett County in the early 70’s. Fifteen years later, Steve moved to Gainsville, Georgia to avoid the out grows and congested schools with bunch of foreigners. Steve and his wife Linda is building a house in Haiwassee, Georgia to move out from all. How many of you think Steve can get away from the changing world? First, I would like to tell you my story Simply because I am a business man doing businesses with entrepreneurs Chinese economy Hong Kong stock market is up because the new Chinese leader announce We now know we are sharing different weathers and resources with people in the other side of the world, sand storm starting Mongolia Mojave desert carries the sand powders to the West Coast of United States within a week’s time. Stone mountain is the largest I would think it is a timely subject as the international businesses are coming to Georgia. They are coming from overseas and they are moving their U. S. headquarters to Georgia from other cities in the United States. I started my career and business with no money no resources. That was only twenty years ago and I made my self very good. I am sixty years old this year. I sometimes, look at my life as three segments. The first twenty years to learn, the second twenty years to experience and the third twenty years to utilize the knowledge and experience I gained. I gained a lot of knowledge and experiences, made a ton of mistakes, received a lot of Bs and Cs in schools. I spend most of my time with Asian Americans and young Americans. I have over two thousand employees and a good team to run my businesses. I still work long hours and busy utilizing what I learned and gained. I also advise our President Bush on policies as his advisory commissioner. Some of Berry students study in Europe and some will study in Seoul Women’s University this summer while Berry students will be studying together with Korean students this fall. The sand storm from China and Mongolia reaches to the west coast of United States with in two weeks. This is not a new but the new today is you know it as people in the old days never could figured out how in the world the sands blown from the clean and blue water of Pacific. Each of us will face the wave of globalization. Rome is an integral part of Georgia’s globalization. We should expect and be ready for the trend and be ready to expand our efforts in businesses and industry to other countries. It will be fun and challenging time and I am looking forward to it. One question we want to ask our selves that are we reacting to the globalizing world fast enough? Globalization to me is like enlarging area you belong. Globalization, to me, is like expanding your self beyond your neighbors, community and the country and producing more than friendship out of relationship with friends, associates and neighbors. I moved from South Korea in 1974, lived here in Georgia since 1978 after lived in Indianapolis a few years. I still remember the first flight to the United States, I was frightened and scare but mix with hope. I opened a world map and started to examine where I was and where I was going to. Before I left Korea, I most distance I traveled was to Pusan City, only about 300 miles to the south from where I was living. I was fortunate enough to watch some of those American movies, from John Wayne movies and Gone with Winds to James Dean movies and Natalie Woods and Elvis Presley movies. My dream for the world started from those dark movie theatres and libraries. My heart was pounding as I glance through faded pictures of Chicago and New York skylines of Life magazine. The place I was living, Seoul City was too small and too many people competes each other. One hot summer afternoon, I determined to make my life with the people of the world. I was a fifteen years old boy, working average 10 hours per day everyday for a dry fish wholesaler as a delivery man, twenty nine days per month, third Monday was only off day of each month. I was attending night high school after work, study about 6 hours daily for six days per week. I listed out all those obstacles for my dreams become a reality. It was a long list of things to do. The top of the list was English problem. The next thing in the list was familiarize to the American cultures. These must solved before I pursue my plan to go to the world. There were many other obstacles to follow but nothing should prevent me to be successful and realizing my dream to go to the world. Thinking back of those days, I was fortunate to have the confidence. I still think the confidence is most important ingredient for anyone to be successful. I made an index card size reminder cards, wrote down a words of French General Napoleon “there are no word “impossible” in my dictionary,” laminated with scotch tapes and posted front of my desk, one inside my wallet and a few used as book marks. I had no way to get around of the reminder cards. Next thing I did, I obtained addresses for pen pals, five individuals from five different continents, all female. I started to write to those pen pals, one in India, one in Sweden, one in Nigeria, one in Argentina and one in Youngstown, Ohio. It usually took me a month to write one-page-letter. I had to get a proof reading from my English teachers but usually take five to six trips to finalize an English letter. Once I finish write just one letter and sent the same contents to all five different pen pals, yes, it was a mass production. I had to drop all pen pals within two years time but one because I realized one married and the others was too ugly or too old for me than, as we exchanged the pictures. We don’t have enough time to talk about the lady in Youngstown, Ohio, Peggy Ryan, but briefly, we wrote each other for thirty five or some years. We never met still but we shared our hearts and wisdom through poems and stories. Once we fell in love each other. She subscribe me National Geographic magazines as she wants to assist me to achieve my dreams to be achieved. Peggy would make requests for songs for me to listen in a Korean radio station. Big band music to unchained melody, we had a fun times. Oh, I am being so romantic, just to think of the past. I am glad Kay, my wife is not here with us and listen to this confession. Kay went back to college to obtain another degree and studying today. Thank goodness! While I was studying English, I regularly stopped by a Western restaurant in Seoul, called Baekjo Grill for lunch pretty much every off-days. I had to familiarize to Western foods and wanted to learn Western table manners, I know how to use chop sticks but I couldn’t figure out how to use folks and spoons in all different sizes properly. I walk in to the restaurant each month and watch how others eat meals. I could only order soup because that is all I could afford. It was a large sum of investment for me as a student working and study at a night school but I had to learn the customs. Don’t ask me if I liked the American foods than because I didn’t like it at all, it was too greasy and buttery, but, I had to experience it. Nothing could block me to do what I wanted to do. When I arrived Georgia 1978, Georgia was about to starting to expose to the world. The South decided to open up their protected hermit Dixie and embrace the world. 1980 World’s Fair of Knoxville attracted curious visitors and potential investors of the world to the South. I think Georgia received more economical benefits than Tennessee from the Fair, some thinks because the airports and the accessibility but I think because the spirit of Georgians, true Southern hospitality with warm hearts. Former president Jimmy Carter played a major role to open up the South and Georgia. Georgia, especially after the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympic Games, became a true international state. World class airports and world class corporations choose to do international business here in Georgia. The globe moves the same speed as it was in thousand years ago but the world is moving faster and faster. Internet with fiber optics carries information and images faster than sound. It took 88 days to around the world until early 40’s but today, the supersonic jet can take you around the world in less than XX hours. Faster you move, the more you see, more you see, the more opportunity. A man from Korea is here in town called Rome in America giving speech on globalization to students of Berry and Covenant. Can anyone imagine that Miss Martha Berry would ever guess that? I certainly think so as I read a letter of Miss Berry to a Berry student name George October 22, 1908, she emphasized him to giving the students a vision of the best and highest things in life. Miss Berry envisioned the world in her hands and demanded her students to see what she was seeing. I too, today, a man from a 7,000 miles away, born in the year she left this world would like to emphasis you all push your selves to have vision of the best and highest things in life. I moved to Atlanta, Georgia in March 1, 1998 and I lived here ever since. Georgia embraced my mind and I fall in love with Georgia. It was the people of Georgia, not all of Georgians but just one person from Georgia helped me to make up mind to settle in Georgia. I came to Rome three years ago to visit Berry and the spirit of Martha Berry grabbed my heart at the moment I walked in to the campus. Within a one year’s time, I brought Dr. Billy Kim, the chairman of the World Baptist Convention, a Korean minister, good friend of Billy Graham, a graduate of Bob Jones. Within a six months of time, Dr. Billy Kim introduced Berry to a number three women university in Korea and Dr. Lee, the president of Seoul Women’s University visited the Berry and of course, she like the Berry. This very summer, the Berry will send five students to Korea to spend time with students from more than twenty six countries. These students will coma back to Rome in America and will share their experiences with other students and friends and possibly these students will end working together some Korean people or the friends from other countries met in Korea. At the same time, the Korean students will be here and study at Berry and make friends in Rome and Berry this fall. These college students may be come to Georgia if anyone likes the people and/or nature of Georgia they will experience. Who knows, some of Berry and SWU students may be find permanent companions and marry. I was impressed as you are as read Miss Berry’s fundraising activities. Do you know how Miss Berry interested Mr. Ford first time to Berry? She sold Georgia spring to invite Mr. Ford to Berry in 1916 based on the letter she wrote to Miss Tarbell, a New York journalist. She could have been gone to Korea to sell Georgia’s spring if she lived today. It took 88 days to travel around the world and took two hours of train ride to Rome from Atlanta those days, however, it only takes a less than a day to travel around the world. Russia, Brazil, Denmark, Spain, Slovak Republic, Japan and Korea was countries of foreign, well, legally and politically still they are, but the reality is they all are a part of one neighboring community. because it will only take 14 hours to travel which is less amount of hours took to travel to Miami, Florida by car in old days. Businesses from all around the world made Georgia their base to making profits and build the Georgia the center point of their expansion of their businesses to the world. Today in Georgia, we have 1,076 internationally owned businesses and 583 international manufacturers from 52 countries doing business in Georgia according to the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism. They joined Georgia businesses and making the Georgia a world class state while selling made in Georgia to other countries. 59 countries opened their consulate or trade offices in Georgia. company from Japan and manufacturing automobile parts and shipping to other states. Virtually everyday, Mr. Glenn Cornell, a Berry alum and the leader in the Berry community and the man in charge of the Dept of Industry and Trade and Tourism, and his team is selling Georgia spring and fall but hiding muggy summer. Now, It is simple to understand globalization but the question still lies; are you ready for the globalization?  Adjusting to the world is answer to the question. When I came to Georgia in 1997, I have been thru many different experiences, some good but some are not so kind. As a foreigner in Georgia, where many red necks live in the late 70’s when they call Northerners “Yankees, or damn Yankees” in some cases depends on what color of the neck they have. It was not easy for me to travel in the country side as some kids following me around and ask me if I go to bathroom too. One time, I went to Covington, Georgia where once a real boony country to visit the film making location of the TV series XXX, a group of kids in their age about 9 or 10 following me around for a long while and I became uncomfortable, I wanted to do something about this naughty boys before I get real angry, I stop and turn my face to them and showing serious expression and said, you have been following me around last thirty minutes and you are to pay me a dime per minute to look at me. I said to a bigger boy among them and said, you owed me 3 dollars, the boy got a little scared and told me “I only followed you about fifteen minutes and I should only be charged $1.50. Last three years, I was busy to go to Korea and Japan to work with my business partners in real estate deals. The Asian economy was weaken in the late 90’s, and many Wall Street investment bankers Olympic 1996

VanLandingham Award acceptance speech. Sunny K. Park Thank you, Chuck Lewis, for your kind introduction. A little exaggerated version, but I liked it. Thank you to the Georgia Council on Economic Education and to David Martin for your leadership and for the great job you have done in recent years. I also want to thanks to the William J. VanLandingham Award selection committee for the mistake they made in choosing the wrong man for this distinguished award. When you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he didn't get there by himself. I am delighted to acknowledge the efforts of my teammates at General Building Maintenance and One Georgia Bank, and , the MVPs are my wife Kay and my children. My congratulations to Ms ________, the Teacher of the Year Award recipient. I admire and respect all those good teachers who lose sleep at night, concerned about their students. Thank you for your excellent work. My job title is CEJ. The “J” stands for Janitor. I am a janitor on my job and a janitor at home as well. Because I am proud of what I do, I pick up the trash in public places whether or not I’m getting paid to do so. It’s important that when you acknowledge that something is not right or could be better, you assume the responsibility for fixing the problem you just encountered. Americans' views on the economy and the general state of the country have hit an all-time low, according to a CBS News/New York Times poll published on April 3, 2008. Never in the history of this poll have people been so pessimistic about where the county is headed. Eighty-one percent (81%) of those polled say the country is on the wrong track, while only 14 percent believe it is moving in the right direction. Going with what I said before about responsibility, this means that 81 percent of the people — at least — should be helping to fix the problem they’ve recognized. We all have work to do here in fixing the problems our nation faces today. Realistically, I am not sure how much we CAN do, but what we CANNOT do is just sit on the sideline and watch the fallout. The first thing we can do is to help our future generations be better equipped to fix our problems. I am talking, of course, about education — specifically education about the economy, because the economy relates to every part of our life and our society. You are the ones who are making the nation and our community better today for tomorrow. You are the ones with the willingness to help our future generations work toward helping this country prosper. One thing is for sure: I will make the most of this award, using it to attract young audiences to pay more attention to my message — to let them know the importance of responsibility and education. For that reason, I am accepting this award. Thank you all very much, and may God bless all of you and your efforts. Short Version: VanLandingham Award acceptance speech. Sunny K. Park Thank you, Chuck Lewis, for your kind introduction, a little exaggerated, but I liked it. I want to thank to the Georgia Council on Economic Education and to David Martin for your services and dedication for our future leaders. I appreciate the William J. VanLandingham Commitment to Education Award selection committee for the mistake they made in choosing the wrong man for this distinguished award. Thank you though When you see a turtle on a fence post, you know he didn't get there by himself. I am delighted to acknowledge the efforts of my teammates at my businesses, General Building Maintenance and One Georgia Bank, and, the MVPs are my wife Kay and my children, thank you Kay! I want to thank many of my friends in other organizations I am a part of, joining this luncheon with us. Jay Eun, president of the Korean American Association of Greater Atlanta, Stephen Briggs, President of Berry College, Rogers Wade, President of Georgia Public Policy Foundation, Mr. Hakkeun Chang, a director of US Dept of HUD, My congratulations to ____, the Georgia Economics Teacher of the Year Award and _____, Economic Program Excellent Award recipients. I admire and respect good teachers who lose sleep at night, concerned about the future of their students. Thank you both for your excellent work. Georgia Council on Economic Education helps Georgia teachers to teach our students prepared for their economic roles as workers, consumers, citizens, and lifelong decision makers in a globally interdependent world. You are the ones who are making the nation and our community better today for tomorrow. You are the ones with the willingness to help our future generations work toward helping this country continue to be prosperous. I am honored to be a part of your efforts One thing is for sure: I will make the most of this award, using it to attract young audiences to pay more attention to my messages — to help them to understand the importance of responsibility and education. For that reason, I am accepting this award.  Thank you all very much, and may God bless all of you and your efforts.

Speech on globalization to Perimeter Optimist Club members Aug 17 2004 Sunny Park Globalization: Are you ready Greetings Respected members of the Perimeter Optimist Club, Club President STUART NATERMAN, Mr. Tony Clark, thank you for your invitation and introduction—I don’t feel like I am at all anybody would be invited to speak to any group. But you think I am qualified. Well, I am here and you all are so optimistic and positive. Really, I am honored to be a part of your effort to make the world better and assist our future leaders. I visited your Web site and study how I can be helpful for you to help the world differently. I thought something about the international community and the global competition would be a good subject to pick. I just hope I am not too optimistic.  First of all, I am grateful to our troops, the heroic men and women, fighting for the safety of this great country and the freedom of the people of Iraq. Without them, we would not be here today having a conference. I pray to God that He will bless and strengthen each of them and return them home safely. . I came to Georgia in 1978. As a foreign-born American in Georgia, it was not comfortable for me to travel in the countryside. Many Georgians were not familiar or didn’t want to be familiar with outsiders such as myself. One time, I went to Covington, Georgia. It was much more country back then. A group of kids followed me around for a long while and I became uncomfortable and annoyed. I wanted to do something about it. Some of them had never seen an Asian person in person before. I stopped and turned my face to them, showing a serious expression and said, “You have been following me around last 30 minutes and you are to pay me a dime each minute you look at me.” So, you owe me $3, the boy got a little scared and then told me, “I only followed you about fifteen minutes and I should only be charged $1.50.” That was about a quarter century ago. Metro Atlanta population was about 1.5 million and my income was about $17,000 per year. Now we enjoying almost 5 million people living in Metro Atlanta, we have new friends moved from everywhere. You look around, they are from all over the world, some from Asia and some from South America and we have some from the north, I am talking about those Yankees. Atlanta is not only place growing but all places in the globe. Globalization is a lifestyle. The size of the world is shrinking as the speed of transportation and information technology improves. It covers all areas: economics, the environment, culture, education, social interaction and more. Fiber optic and wireless telecommunication technology carries information of the world to other side of the globe faster than the speed of sound. The conflict in Iraq, a small country that is the size of California and almost four thousands miles away, directly impacts our lifestyle every day. Our sons and daughters are fighting for freedom. The flu-like SARS symptom started in China, a country located 7,000 miles away from us, took only 72 hours to make a trip to the West coast of the United States. American blue jeans are the uniform of young people around the world today. CNN Headline News of Atlanta covers news from every corner of the world every half hour. WTO, the World Trade Organization, NAFTA, North American Free Trade Agreement, WTO cartel memberships are growing, now reaching 145 nations. The members of these organizations have one thing in mind; be competitive in order to reap their own rewards. In this competitive global market, some will win and some will lose. I would say that those countries that are ready to compete will win and the countries ignoring the facts and the realities will lose the international competition. The world is definitely shrinking and you must realize the changing world whether you like it or not. Are we ready for the upcoming new world economy? With my experiences in limited segments of broad globalization, I may be able to help you to realize how the foreign investors perceive Georgians as far as globalization goes. I hope we can see for ourselves (ourselves is one word) and make changes if there are any needs to adjust. Globalization in business means competition. Compete with other countries; compete with neighboring states and counties. In the mid 1980’s, there was a wave of Japanese companies investing in Georgia. Japan remains on the top of the list of those countries that have made investments in Georgia. Financially rewarded by its relationship with Japan, The State of Georgia then started going after Korean companies. Sure enough, When the Korean electronic giant LG, then Gold Star, was looking for a new site to build a factory, both Alabama and Georgia competed for this juicy deal by offering attractive, incentives, tax credits and more. LG decided to settle in Huntsville, Alabama, because of the incentives Alabama offered but I heard the inside story later. The real reason was that they liked the people they dealt with. Georgia lost another big deal with Samsung (Samsung is one word) to New Jersey--this time it was because we didn’t have good schools for the children to go to in Newnan, Georgia. Former governor Joe Frank Harris of Cartersville put so much effort in economic globalization of Georgia while he was in office. He utilized the resources of local ethnic community leaders to reach out to lure international investors to Georgia. He has done a great job as you can see from his records. In the early-1980’s, Gov. Harris went to Korea as the head of the Georgia trade delegation to Korea for a series of meetings. In most of Asian countries, entertainment is a vital part of deal making. And, entertainment means there will be a lot of drinking, it is sort of unofficial requirement and that usually goes until the very late hours of the night. As some of you might know, Gov. Harris is a Baptist and never drinks. He was in a situation that would either displease the potential investors or disobey the Lord. He came all the way to Korea and the mission at hand was very important for Georgia, as you can imagine the dilemma he was in. The staffs decided to use a trick, they asked the waiter to bring a pitcher of water and a bottle of good-old Georgia Coca-Cola and pour to the whiskey glass. It looks like a whiskey and the potential investors didn’t know a thing. I have tried to mix coke with water. I didn’t like the taste of it and neither does Gov. Harris. As a result, his team initiated the Korean corporations to shift their attention to Georgia and landed a big deal. SKC, a major Korean conglomerate built their polyester film plant in Covington, Georgia, which is still listed as the largest single foreign investment in Georgia history. I think he accomplished the goal because he was flexible. I think “flexible” is the word we want to remember to be successful in globalization. We also want to be able to honor the rules and customs of others and invest in the future economy. I become more flexible when I remind myself to treat others the way I want to be treated. Sound familiar? I believe flexibility can be the power source to create ideas and new attitudes about getting along with the new neighbors in the shrinking world. Doing business internationally is fun and challenging. I have dealt with a few investors from around the world looking for opportunities to make a profit in international market. From 1998 to 2002, my consulting work at a major American investment bank helped the company make over $100 million dollars profit, resulting from a real estate investment in Asia. The global market is wide open for the people who are ready. That also means the international market is open to all and every country. A cargo plane leaving China with merchandise today will land at Hartsfield tomorrow. The merchandise will be on the store shelves at Wal-Mart in Rome, Georgia, by this weekend. Our competitiveness in certain markets is weaker than most other countries. The United States has very tough competition for manufacturing consumer goods. The average Chinese worker is paid about $100 per month while his or her average living cost is about $60 per month. An American blue collar worker’s average wage is about $1,600 per month while the living cost is about $1,200 per month per person. The productivity level of other countries is higher than ours. The Chinese worker work 12 hours per day, including Saturdays. This means that consumers in Chattanooga and Rome can purchase the Chinese-made goods at a very low price. Obviously, the Chinese economy is growing rapidly and so does the market for us. China is the country we cannot live without but at the same time, our potential enemy. I feel confused Scared? Too bad for those are not ready for globalization, which is here to stay and it is rapidly expanding. The question is…are we ready? Are We Ready? Sure we are! We have very good news for you. Some of you can take advantage of the economic environment that America and Georgia created. I wonder if Americans know the value they have. Many of them are aware of it I but sometimes I question whether they do. It is easy for us take things for granted when we have enough. I often look at myself through the mirror and try to assess my worth. $2 million dollars for two eyes of mine, no…more than that--how about $10 million? Well, still too low but let’s settle for it for the time being. Let’s say we price $10 million for my two hands, $10 million for my ten fingers, $10 billion for my brains and so on. My body may be worth $100 billion easy. These tools are free gifts from God but we must use them. The value of America today is also astronomical. We are the richest country in the world today. Some of you may not want to agree but we have the most advanced educational system and technology in the world. The English language is the language of international business and we speak the language already. I think that even a Georgia drawl is considered to be English, too. Students from all over the world come here to learn American technology More than 24% of the PH.D degree recipients at American universities in 2002 were foreign students. The United States spans over 3.5 million square miles. The population density is 60 people per sq mile while Singapore has 10,000 people per sq mile. The US is one of only four countries in the world that produce enough food to feed its people. And, 60 percent of the world’s automobiles are right here in the US. Let’s see what Georgia offers. Other than optimism. Georgia is home to 15 smart Fortune 500 corporations and there are more to come. Coca Cola, Home Depot, UPS, CNN, Lockheed Martin and recently Rubber Maid made decisions to move their HQs to Alpharetta, Georgia. Georgia is one of very few states in the country that have successfully hosted the Summer Olympic Games. Businesses from all around the world made Georgia their base, which helps grow Georgia’s economy and raise the profile of this great state. Today (repetitive to keep we have 1,076 internationally owned businesses and 583 international manufacturers from 52 countries doing business in Georgia, according to the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism. CIVA Vision, ING, Phillips, Bayer, Siemens, Porsche, Alcatel and many more international companies made their homes here. 59 countries have their consulate or trade offices in Georgia. Rome and North Georgia offers the world no others can compete, carpet and textile, automobile parts, transportation and agriculture to name a few. I don’t think they are here to help Georgia’s economy but themselves. I think it is important for us to know why they are coming to Georgia. This state offers its foreign investors things that other states can’t. It offers the best, central location for business: Georgia’s international business starts at the Hartsfield International Airport and extends to the seaports of Savannah and Brunswick. It offers hardworking labor power: One of most important assets Georgia is its people. Georgians are friendly, honest and highly productive. The state will continue to grow and the population will reach well above 10 million by 2025 per US Census 2000 Its government offers the best of business environments: Georgia has excellent team and the leadership. One question to people in Georgia: Do we realize and utilize the resources that foreigners realize and utilize? I am optimistic as Georgians are more eager to understand the international market and more and more ambitious Georgia businesses are expanding their territory to the world market. The state of Georgia has a successful track record in bringing foreign and major domestic businesses. When we talk about globalization, I always think of the high standard Miss Martha Berry set. At the time she was nurturing Berry College, Miss Berry traveled to New York City to sell her vision of Berry, at that time NYC was like a foreign country. I am a part of Georgia Ports Authority and I am proud of the efforts the Authority making in the global market. Ports of Georgia, Savannah and Brunswick are the fastest growing ports in the country. Governor Perdue brought me into the Authority with optimistic agenda, he wants to make the Authority global look, not because I have a round face but I speak some foreign languages. I will be going to Europe, Asia, South-America and to American corporations to sell the values of Georgia. Globalization Today Globalization is our reality and it is affecting every area of our lives. So, how can we be ready for the changing world? Let’s start with basic methods. Experiencing foreign foods can be one easy and fun way to familiarize with foreign culture. McDonald’s and KFC are everywhere: Seoul, Moscow, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, Shanghai and many other cities and they are familiar with our cultures. How about yourselves? You can easily find good-old-southern grits in the breakfast buffets in Korea. I heard Yankees even eat them. Foreigners eat fried green tomatoes in Georgia and try fried rattle-snake as appetizers in a Kansas City hotel restaurant without hesitation. But how many of you had sushi? How about sushi pizza? How many of you tried Kimchi, a Korean pickled cabbage dish? How many of you used chopsticks? Next, we should read news papers, including The Wall Street Journal and Business Week. You want to tune into international news and information in order to understand the rapidly changing world and its economy. How about learn a few foreign languages. It is not that hard if you are determined and persistent. We need to learn foreign languages to compete in the global economy. Foreign students come to Georgia Tech and learn our new technology. They will improve the technology and write the invention in their own language and there will be no way for our children to learn the improved technology. It is easier to succeed than to fail--does that sound familiar? It is the title of a book that Mr. Truit Cathy, the founder of Chick-fil-A and the founder of the WinShape wrote. I am one of many Mr. Cathy’s admirers, as he is applying the gifts of God for a good purpose. I want to echo his statements. You want to find one more optimist, Mr. Cathy can be one of you, definitely. All you have to do is demonstrate the proven formulas with the flexibility. Imagine an article on your globalization success stories in The New York Times in April 2013, ten years later from this date. You can do it--a man with halting English did. Help me to brag about how I helped your success ten years from now as I read the article of your success! Thank you all for coming and listening. I will pray for the outcome of this conference.