Won Yong Kim took pride in short track speed skater Lim Hyo-jun winning the first gold medal for South Korea at the Winter Olympics Feb. 10.
A parishioner of St. Andrew Kim in St. Paul, Kim is one of many parishioners enjoying the Olympics from afar as South Korea hosts the 2018 Winter Games. St. Andrew Kim serves Korean Catholics in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
“Everybody’s pretty interested in having the Olympics in [our] home country,” said Kim, 43, who moved to the U.S. from South Korea for work in 2003. “We still want more medals. I think the [St. Andrew Kim] members are interested in the U.S. team, too.”
Kim enjoys hockey, and he has watched the first few unified Korean women’s hockey games. He also enjoys short track speed skating and figure skating. While the parish isn’t hosting any formal events to celebrate the Olympics, Kim expects that there are plenty of informal get-togethers among Korean Americans. The parish draws members from across the Twin Cities.
Kim said the Feb. 9 opening ceremony was a proud moment for him as his home country performed for the world. “The opening ceremony actually showed very thoroughly about the history of South Korea — and not just South Korea, but the Korean peninsula — from the ancient time to the modern time,” Kim said.
He hopes relations between North Korea and South Korea improve because of their cooperation in the Olympic games.
“This is also a very good opportunity to start to talk,” said Kim, who grew up in the Seoul area. “It’s a good start, I think, that we can resolve some really serious issues from the simple [ones] like [the] Olympic Games. Everybody agrees we want peace.”
