It is my great honor to have this opportunity of receiving the Ramon Magsaysay Award in this presentation ceremony, the 72nd birth anniversary of the late Ramon Magsaysay, your excellent and great leader. This is an honor, not only for myself, but for all the people of Korea. For this honor I am thankful to God, to the members of the Board of Trustees, and to all my friends who have helped me and made his possible.

I came down to South Korea as one of the refugees in December 1950 when Korea was at war. In Pusan I began to offer free medical treatment to poor patients. This work continued for six years with the assistance of the United Nations Civil Assistance Corps. Later I organized the Pusan Gospel Hospital which has grown to have 180 beds.

In 1968, at a small gathering of Christians, I happened to hear Mr. Chai Kyu-chul talking of his experiences in Denmark where he was studying agriculture. About the time he completed his course of study he became ill and was in need of medical care, but he had no ready money. He was greatly relieved when he heard of the possibility of help from the Danish Government. This inspired me to begin a similar program in Korea, and we—three friends from Bible Class—appealed to all churches in Pusan City to organize a medical cooperative union. Twenty-three men agreed and organized it successfully. The next year about 13,000 beneficiaries of the Swedish Children Relief Fund joined the union and the union began growing.

I opened the Gospel Nursing Vocational School in 1968, the Blue Cross Hospital in 1975, and I organized the Blue Cross Social Welfare Association in 1976 in order to help develop our district society. All of these accomplishments were only possible with the blessings of Holy God and with my friends' enthusiastic assistance. Therefore I would like to praise God and give thanks to Him; at the same time I would like to share this happiness and honor with my friends and with members of the Gospel Hospital and the Blue Cross.