Celebrating Korean Sailors

[Anchor Lead]

Korean sailors docked at the southern Spanish city of Las Palmas some 50 years ago in a bid to earn foreign currency. KBS has tracked some of them down for a celebration of their past endeavors.

[Pkg]

Las Palmas in southern Spain is just off off northwestern Africa. It was here where Korea's deep sea fishing operations began for the first time in 1966. Park Il-gwang boarded a deep sea fishing vessel 48 years ago as a radio operator here in Spain.

[Soundbite] Park Il-gwang(Las Palmas Resident) : "The waves were so strong. The rice cooker was knocked over. We thought we would die, really."

It's been half a century since the "Ganghwa-1" vessel carrying 40 Korean sailors hauled in its very first fishing net. Since then, 117 young lives passed away on the open sea during their dangerous missions. The 870 million dollars the fishermen had earned up until 1987 at the risk of their lives served as a precious resource in assisting Korea's industrial development. The KBS Radio Korean Network visited Las Palmas to remember and offer gratitude to the then young sailors who ventured out onto the Atlantic Ocean 50 years ago. The now aged men merrily enjoyed the concert but were seen shedding tears when their children sang the Korean folk song "Spring in My Hometown."Spanish spectators also applauded when the sailors' life stories were introduced. The event was even more significant as it brought together the Koreans and local Spaniards.