National hero Park Tae-hwan was a filial son of the nation.

On KBS 2TV ‘New Release Convenience Store Restaurant’ (abbreviated as ‘Convenience Store Restaurant’) broadcast on the 13th, the honest story of Park Tae-hwan, the legend who wrote the history of swimming in Korea, was revealed.Park Tae-hwan, who has lived for nearly 30 years, whipping himself to shorten his record.Behind the incredible record he set, there was Park Tae-hwan’s fierce effort, and his warm heart towards his family that helped him endure that effort.

On this day, Park Tae-hwan had an affectionate phone call with his older sister.His older sister said to Park Tae-hwan, “I saw that you were only exercising and couldn’t enjoy the things that other people normally do.It’s sad.” She continued, “You’ve been in the water longer than I have in my life.(After retirement)You seem comfortable these days, going out to eat whatever you want.I hope you enjoy life.” She conveyed her sincerity with lots of affection.

As his older sister said, Park Tae-hwan has lived more intensely than anyone else.He started swimming at the age of 5 and endured tough training from 4 a.m.to 10 p.m.every day.Park Tae-hwan said, “I think I just whipped him without giving him a carrot,” and confessed, “There were times when I wanted to quit swimming.Swimming is a record-breaking event that you have to overcome alone, and you only look at the bottom 365 days a year.That was too hard.” However, what helped Park Tae-hwan endure was his family.

Park Tae-hwan recalled, “My mother was battling cancer.Rather than thinking, ‘I will become the best in Korea ‘through swimming, I wanted to do as much as I could for my family.No matter how much my heart felt like it was going to burst, I thought that the pain I felt was nothing compared to my mother’s pain.” That’s why Park Tae-hwan said that the happiest time was not when he won first place, but when he gave his parents a house as a gift.


Park Tae-hwan’s careful sincerity surprised everyone.There was an outpouring of admiration, saying, “The national hero was a filial son of the nation.” Since Park Tae-hwan had been fighting without giving up with that mindset since childhood, the records he wrote felt even more valuable and meaningful.Furthermore, the viewers were able to watch Park Tae-hwan enjoy eating his favorite food with a proud and happy heart.

On that day, Eun-se Gi spent a meaningful time with her older brother who is two years younger than her.Eun-se Gi’s older brother not only did many favors for his sister who lives alone, but also personally prepared a barbecue pulled pork that took 10 hours to prepare.Eun-se Gi said of her older brother, “He never says ‘no’ when I talk about something.He comes to me when I need him and gives me strength.He is my Hongbanjang who runs to me anytime, anywhere,” expressing her gratitude.

Meanwhile, Jang Shin-young, Ki Eun-se, and Park Tae-hwan competed in a ‘steamed dish’ menu competition.Jang Shin-young made perilla seed and radish stewed chicken using her mother’s recipe, Ki Eun-se perfected coriander bone stew after brainstorming with her older brother, and Park Tae-hwan upgraded his final menu with gold medal boiled pork after overcoming Choo Sung-hoon’s harsh criticism.While all three menus received rave reviews, Jang Shin-young’s perilla seed and radish stewed chicken won the competition.

Hong Se-young, reporter for Donga.com projecthong@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.