OLYMPIA — Paull Shin grew up on the streets of Seoul, South Korea, homeless and begging for his next meal.
When he visited the city earlier this month, he was honored as the 2004 Overseas Korean of the Year by a Korean nonprofit agency, praised for his efforts to cinch tighter ties between the people and industries of his homeland and those of his adopted home.
"Sometimes it’s hard to believe that an orphan boy who never went to school is being honored by his country," said Shin, the Democratic state senator from Edmonds.
The award from the nonprofit Korea Foundation is given annually to one of the estimated 7 million Koreans living outside their native country.
Shin received the award March 4 in a ceremony televised live on the state-run Korean Broadcasting System. Afterward, Shin met with Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun.
"It was tremendously exciting," Shin said.
A short documentary on Shin, including parts filmed in Olympia and Edmonds, aired during the event.
Shin, born Ho Bom Shin, told of being abandoned in Seoul at age 4 after when his mother died. He lived on the streets for more than a decade, subsisting on handouts and never attending school.
One day in 1950, while soliciting gum and chocolate from a group of U.S. soldiers, one of the enlistees took him to the Army barracks — a trip that would forever change his life.
There he met Dr. Ray Paull, an Army dentist. Paull took the then 16-year-old Shin under his wing, eventually adopting him and bringing him to the United States.
"That was a blessing that I received," Shin said. "That’s why I took his last name to be my first name."
When Shin turned 18, he was uneducated and unable to speak much English. But he was determined. With the help of numerous mentors, he set out on a path of study that led to a general education degree, entry into college, a doctorate in Korean studies at the University of Washington and a job teaching.
In the meantime, he befriended an increasing number of civic leaders. He put his abilities to speak Korean, Chinese and Japanese to work for the state, aiding governors Dan Evans, Dixie Lee Ray and Booth Gardner in promoting the sale of Washington agricultural products, expanding trade and boosting cultural exchanges with Asian nations.
Gardner convinced Shin in 1992 to run for the state House of Representatives. Shin won, and is now in his second term in the state Senate. Throughout, he has continued acting as an unofficial trade ambassador, most recently helping lure Univera, a growing biotechnology firm from Korea, to locate its North American headquarters in Lacey.
At the ceremony in Seoul, Shin was praised for his work on behalf of about 144,000 Korean adoptees living in this country, and for helping Korean immigrants acclimate to their new nation.
He felt humbled by the accolades. "They called me a role model for modern-day Korean Americans and Asian immigrants."
The award comes with a $20,000 check. Shin said he will contribute it to a fund-raising drive to endow a chair in Korean studies at the UW’s Jackson School of International Study.
Supporters are raising $2 million for the post and a related study center. Last year, the Korea Foundation committed $500,000, a grant that Shin played a role in securing.
Reporter Jerry Cornfield: 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.
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