The key figures who led our country's economic growth and turbulent times,
are often described as 'bulldozers' or 'steel.'
However, hidden behind the shadow of that dazzling success were the deep scars left by the shelling of war and
the 'extreme burnout' experienced by modern people.
Through the peculiar habits of Director Han, I intend to discuss the weight of success and mental illness.
Director Han was a young officer who crossed the line between life and death on the front lines during the Korean War.
1.4 Having witnessed the tragedy of his own soldiers drowning while crossing a frozen river during the retreat,
he lived with a fear of 'water' for the rest of his life from that day on.
Strange Habit: He refused to bathe for the rest of his life. This was because even the sound of running tap water seemed to bring back the screams of that day, causing him to suffer from severe abdominal pain and diarrhea.
Korean Sentiment: His stern warning, "Do not even hang a landscape painting," demonstrates that even the beautiful landscape of Korea was, to him, a cold memory of death.
Injured and his nervous system damaged during the war, he was extremely sensitive to changes in temperature.
He always had to maintain the temperature in his house at 'bunker level.'
The Temperature Formula: Chief Han had his own unique dress formula.
He moved like a machine according to the thermometer readings, wearing a wool vest if the indoor temperature was 20 degrees, a thick sweater if it was 19 degrees, and so on.
Doorbell Wrapped in Silk: He, who was repulsed even by the cold touch of metal, had every metal doorknob in the house wrapped in silk.
This was a paradoxical rejection of the days when he had to touch only cold firearms on the battlefield.
Chief Han was a terrible workaholic. His habit of spreading out maps and devising strategies all night continued even after he entered the workforce.
However, what tormented him was a chronic headache of unknown cause.
The smell of sulfur: Even though he did not smoke, he always carried matches with him. Whenever his headache worsened, he would light a match and inhale that 'acrid smell of burning sulfur.'
Psychological reasons: Experts analyze this as the 'paradox of war trauma,' where one actually felt a sense of relief only from the smell of gunpowder on the fierce battlefield.
Chief Han could not sleep in a bed. When he was ill or his anxiety reached its peak,
he woke his driver in the middle of the night and boarded an old military jeep.
The Comfort of Shaking: Only when his whole body rattled inside the car speeding down the unpaved road could he finally fall into a deep sleep.
Grief: It leaves our hearts heavy that his life, which could not stop for even a single moment while laying the foundation of the Korean economy,
paradoxically found peace only 'inside a shaking car'.
