1. The document provides biographies of famous Koreans and Korean Americans who have made significant contributions in various fields such as military, sports, politics, and education. 2. It discusses notable figures like Admiral Yi Sun-shin who led Korean naval victories against Japan, Olympic marathon gold medalist Sohn Ki-jung, former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the first Korean American elected to the Washington state legislature, Paull Shin. 3. The document aims to introduce students to influential Koreans and Korean Americans who have played important historical roles and served as role models.

1. Bringing Korea to the K-12 Classrooms:
Famous Koreans/
Korean Americans
National Korean Studies Seminar
Copyright 2014
Sung Kim and Mary Connor

2. Famous Koreans &
Korean Americans
Military Naval Admiral
Yi, Sun-shin
World War II Hero
Kim, Young Ok
Atheletes Olympic gold medalist
Sohn, Ki-jung
Olympic gold medalist
Sammy Lee
Patriot Nobel Prize Awardee
Kim, Dae-jung
Patriot & Educator
Ahn, Chang Ho
Politician International Diplomat
Ban, Ki-moon
Washington State
senator
Paull Shin
Category Korean Korean American

3. Yi, Soon-shin: Naval hero
Yi Sun-shin (April 28, 1545 –
December 16, 1598), was a
Korean naval leader noted for
his victories against the
Japanese navy during the
Japanese invasions of Korea
(Imjinwaeran) (1592-1598)
during the Joseon Dynasty.

4. Armoured warship-Turtle Ship
1. Admiral Yi led the victories as the Commander of
Combined Fleets of the Korean Naval fleet during
Japan's April 1592 invasion.
2. He is also known for his innovative use of the turtle ship
( 거북선 ), the world's first armoured warship.

5. Turtle Ship

6. Diagram of Turtle Ship

7. World famous admiral
1. He is reputed to be one of
the few admirals to have
been victorious in every
naval battle (at least 23) that
he commanded.
2. Some historians have
compared his military exploits
to other well known admirals
such as Lord Horatio Nelson
(also killed in combat) or Sir
Francis Drake.

8. Young Ok Kim, Hero of Korean
War & World War II
1. Government Awards Highest
Military Honor To Kim Young-
ok, Retired U.S. Colonel
2. On September 30, 2005 Korean
President Roh Moo-hyun
approved a Cabinet decision to
confer the nation’s highest military
honor, the Order of Military Merit,
Taegeuk, on Mr. Kim Young-ok, a
retired U.S. Army Colonel of
Korean descent.

9. Young Ok Kim
1. Colonel Kim, who is 86 years old
and now resides in Los Angeles,
fought both in the Korean War and
World War II.
2. The Order of Military Merit,
Taegeuk, is reserved for those war
heroes who risked their lives in
action.
3. During World War II, he received
prominent military orders from Italy
twice in 1944 and 1945 in
recognition of his contribution to the
recapture of Rome.

10. Young Ok Kim
1. The French government also conferred him
in 1951 and an order of military merit the
Legion of Honor, France’s highest order
early this year.
2. His name is inscribed on the church wall in
the village he helped free, and the village
elders still remember him vividly as a hero
who gave them back their freedom.

11. Young Ok Kim-Korean American
Community Leader
1. Since retiring from the military, Mr. Kim
has volunteered his service for the
Korean American community.
2. In 2000, he visited Korea as a member
of the U.S. Department of Defense fact-
finding team on the Nogeun-ri incident
that happened during the Korean War.
3. In 2003, Mr. Kim was awarded the Order
of Civil Merit, Moran Medal, by the
Korean Government.

12. Ki-jung Son, Marathon Gold
Medalist
1. “I wanted the world to know
that I am a Korean by
winning the Olympics”
2. Son Ki-jung (1912-2002),
Olympic Gold medalist,
1936 marathon, Berlin
passed away in November
16, 2002 in Seoul, Korea.
3. He was a Korean athlete
during Japan’s colonial
occupation.

13. A Victory is a Sorrow
1. The sportsman was a national
hero who gave hope to the
people in the dark days of the
1910-1945 Japanese colonial
rule by winning the gold medal
in 2:29:19, an Olympic record
at that time.
2. When the Japanese national
anthem was being played
during the award ceremony,
Son shed tears with his head
bowed.

14. Ki-jung Son, National Hero
1. Son did more than the
independence fighters. His victory
was as worthy as the
independence movement. After
the race, he wrote his Korean
name and the name of his
country, Korea, in the visitor's
book for state guests of Germany.
2. He was not just an athlete, but
also a national hero whom all
Koreans will always respect. His
accomplishment was second to
none.

15. Sammy Lee, Korean American
Diver
1. Dr. Sammy Lee was born
August 1, 1920 in Fresno,
California.
2. He is the first Korean
American to win an
Olympic (1948, 1952) gold
medals for the United
States and the first man to
win back-to-back gold
medals in Olympic
platform diving.

16. Sammy Lee, Olympic Gold
Medalist
1. Lee also won second gold
medal in springboard diving
in the 1952 Olympic.
2. The victory brought him the
1953 Sullivan Award as the
nation's outstanding
amateur athlete.
3. He is a member of the US
Olympic Hall of Fame.

17. Dr. Sammy Lee
1. As an student athlete, he
studied medicine at the
University of Southern
California.
2. He was a doctor in the
U. S. Army Medical
Corps when he won his
first gold medal in the
1948 Olympics.

18. Sammy Lee, Great Coach
1. As a specialist in ear diseases, Lee
was a fine coach who produced a
number of champions.
2. Among them was Bob Webster, who
became the second diver to win two
gold medals in the platform event.
3. Lee coached the 1960 U. S. Olympic
diving team and the 1964 Japanese
and Korean teams.
4. Lee coached Greg Louganis who won
twice gold medal in 1984, 1988
Olympics.Greg Louganis

19. Kim, Dae-jung-Nobel Peace Prize
1. The Nobel Peace Prize
Award Ceremony at the
Oslo City Hall, 2000.
2. South Korean President
Kim Dae Jung gives his
Nobel Lecture after
accepting the 2000
Nobel Peace Prize.

20. Kim, Dae-jung-Korea’s 8th
president
1. In December 1997, he was elected to the
presidency.
2. When he was inaugurated as the eighth
President of the Republic of Korea, it
marked the first transition of power from
the ruling to the opposition party in
Korea's modern history.

21. Dosan’s family in Riverside
1. Dosan Ahn, Chang-ho
arrived in America in
September, 1902, with his
newlywed wife, Lee Hae-
Ryon (Helen Ahn).
2. Dosan and his family
settled in Riverside,
California, in March, 1904,
and worked tirelessly to
unite Korean Americans
and to revive the patriotic
spirit of the Korean people.

22. Dosan Ahn, Chang-ho
1. In 1907, during the Japanese
occupation of the Korea peninsula,
Ahn Chang-Ho came back to
Korea to establish the Sinminhoe
(New People's Society), a secret
independence group in Pyong-An
Province.
2. The purpose of this group was to
inspire the Korean people and
concentrate on enlightening and
promoting unity among them.

23. The Patriot Dosan Ahn Chang-Ho
1. In 1919 Dosan went to China in the wake of the
March First Independence Movement.
2. He was dedicated to establishing and
developing the Shanghai Provisional
Government through the National
Representatives Conference.
3. Dosan was dedicated in promoting the
recovery of Korean independence through
nationalism, education, business and culture.

24. Role model of Korean Americans
1. Through his work, Ahn
Chang-ho had an
enormously beneficial
impact and significance
on the history of modern
Korea and Korean
Americans.
2. Dosan's philosophy and
teachings serve as a
model for Korean
American youths.

25. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of
the United Nations
1. Ban Ki-moon was born
in June 13, 1944 in
Eumseong, North
Chungcheong Province,
South Korea.
2. Ban was the Foreign
Minister of South Korea
from January 2004 to
November 1, 2006.
8th Secretary-General of
The United Nations

26. Ban Ki-moon
1. He was elected to be
the eighth Secretary-
General by the United
Nations Assembly and
was sworn in on
December 14, 2006.
2. He succeeded Kofi
Annan as the
Secretary-General of
the UN on January 1,
2007.

27. Ban Ki-moon
• At the ministerial-level meeting on Iraq in Sharm el-
Sheikh, Egypt in May 4, 2007, United Nations Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon has hailed the world body's
peacekeeping achievements while urging further reforms
to allow operations to meet the challenges ahead.

28. Paull Shin-Washington Senator
1. Paull Shin (Shin, Ho
Bom, 신호범 ) (1935 - ) is
a senator of the
Washington state, the
first Korean American
ever elected to the
Washington State
Legislature.
2. He is a member of the
Democratic Party.

29. Orphan in Korean War
1. Shin was born in Korea in 1935.
Orphaned at the age of four, he
lived on the streets of Seoul
begging for food until the
outbreak of the Korean War in
1950, at which point he became a
houseboy to a group of U.S. army
officers.
2. In 1954, a dentist named Ray
Paull, adopted Shin and took him
home to salt Lake City, Utah.

30. Paull Shin
1. Despite never having been educated in Korea,
and knowing little English, Shin completed a GED
in 18 months. Shin went on to earn a BA in
political science from Brigham Young University,
an MPIA from the University of Pittsburgh, and an
MA and PhD from the University of Washington.
2. After being elected to the Washington State
House of Representatives in 1992, Shin ran for
the United States House of representatives in
1994 and for Washington lieutenant governor in
1996, losing by a thin margin in each race. He
was elected to the Washington State Senate in
1998.

31. Paull Shin
• Senator Shin currently serves on the Senate
committees for International Trade & Economic
Development (Chair), Agriculture & Rural
Economic Development (Vice Chair), and Early
Learning, K-12 & Higher Education.

32. References
• http://www.un.org/sg/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_Ki-moon
• http://images.google.com/images?q=
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rntQeLcihe8
• http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0WDQ/is_2
002_Nov_18/ai_94330925
• http://english.president.go.kr/cwd/en/archive/arc
hive_view.php?
meta_id=en_press_release&m_def=3&ss_def=4
&id=6ace0ed309db3f3e22c5ec1
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_drama

33. References
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yi_Sun-sin
• http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/la
ureates/2000/dae-jung-bio.html
• http://www.ahnchangho.or.kr/edefault.asp
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paull_Shin