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PEOPLE
ART
Young Korean
Violinist Impresses
the World
BY PARK MIN-YOUNG
STAFF WRITER
Shin Hyun-su
Yonhap
Aloud applause from the audience filled the
Gala concert hall of Concours Long-
Thibaud in Paris on Nov. 15. It was for Shin
Hyun-su, a Korean violinist who won first prize
there, one of the 10 prestigious concours of the
world.
There was no second place winner this time.
Instead, the 21-year-old violinist was awarded
with two more, the Prize of the Orchestre
Philharmonique de Radio France and the Prize of
the Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Shin’s talent is especially praiseworthy because
it was very hard for her to maintain it. After
her father’s failure in business, she managed to
keep practicing violin. Her entire family lived in a
dim single room that let in little sunlight.
Studying overseas was out of the question for
her. Her family could not even pay for her own
violin.
“I tried to make good sounds with cheap violins,
and I think that helped me improve,” Shin
said after the Gala concert.
Shin still uses rentals or her teacher’s instrument.
Now, she uses a Guadagnini, one of the best
in the world, which is also borrowed.
She was able to borrow it after winning second
place in the Hanover Concours last October, but
has to give it back next year.
Fortunately, Shin had many people who cared
for her. Her mother never mentioned their financial
situation to her daughters, so that Shin and her older
sister, Shin A-ra, who is also a violinist, could
concentrate on practicing.
Kim Nam-yun, a well-known violinist in Korea
and the principal of the School of Music at the
Korean National University of Arts, acknowledged
the Shin girls’ talents. Knowing their heartbreaking
situation, Kim taught them free for 10 years.
“I could never thank her enough,” Shin said.
Whenever her mother brought up the idea of
studying abroad, she replied, “Where I am is the
best place to learn.”
Shin is passionate, optimistic and hardworking.
She went back and forth from Seoul and
Jeonju, in Jeollabuk-do, every day for her lessons.
She did that for years but never complained.
“When I’m down, I convince myself into
thinking that things will get better if I work harder,”
she said. ■
Death of
Korean Student
Remembered in
Japanese Film
BY LEE JI-YOON
STAFF WRITER
The late Lee Soo-hyun
www.soohyunlee.com
Back in 2001, a Korean university student
was killed by a train at a subway station
in Tokyo. Lee Soo-hyun, then 26, was
trying to rescue a drunken man who had fallen
onto the track, but he could not dodge the train
and three people, including a Japanese photographer
who was helping Lee, all died at the
scene.
Based on this story, the Japanese film “26
Years Diary,” which was released here in
October, traces the young hero’s short life and
dream. The movie opened first in Japan last year.
In early 2000, Lee Soo-hyun, played by
Korean actor Lee Tae-sung, who has recently
come back to school after completing his military
duty, moves to Japan to study. One day he
saves a female street-band singer, played by
A scene from the film “26 Years Diary”
Japanese Maki Onaga, from gangsters, and the
two become close through music.
His Tokyo life sometimes faces prejudice
from Japanese, especially Yuri’s father, who
hates Korea. But Lee’s sincerity starts to change
his attitude.
As in real life, his short life ends as he
throws himself on a train track.
“The movie shows well what my son used
to be. Whenever I see the movie, it reminds me
of my son,” said Lee’s parents, Lee Sung-dae
and Shin Yoon-chan, at the movie’s Seoul premiere
on Oct. 27.
Even though Lee’s unfortunate death is
tragic, his courageous act has inspired people
of both Korea and Japan. And still many people
are making efforts to remember him in various
ways. About 280 students from 16 Asian
countries are helped by the LSH Scholarship
Foundation, which was established in Japan by
donations in memory of Lee.
The film’s premiere in Tokyo last year was
attended by many celebrities, including the
Japanese royal couple, who had invited Lee’s
parents to their palace.
In 2001, a month after the accident happened,
Korea University awarded Lee an honorary
diploma, the first in its history. Lee was
studying trade at the school. ■
42 KOREA DECEMBER 2008
DECEMBER 2008 KOREA 43