Park Chan-sook (64), the “legend” of Korean women’s basketball, returned to the court last week. As a leader, not a player, she was appointed to the first commanding tower of the women’s basketball team in Seodaemun-gu (district head Lee Seong-heon).
As I read the article about Park Chan-sook returning to the court, I was naturally summoned to the moment of emotion and joy when the national anthem resonated for the first time in the “CCP” land with no diplomatic relations 39 years ago and the national flag was hoisted.
On the afternoon of October 24, 1984, Shanghai Gymnasium. In this newly opened gymnasium, the Korean women’s basketball team accomplished the feat of winning the tournament 4 times in a row by directing a 62-61 reverse to the Chinese team, which was aiming to win the 10th Asian Women’s Basketball Championship. In the middle of this splendid achievement was captain Park Chan-suk, who wore the number 15 shirt.
As a sports reporter at the Dong-A Ilbo at the time, I watched this moment on the spot, and I still vividly remember that moving scene in my mind. Park Chan-sook, who won the Olympic silver medal for the first time in Korea’s ball game history by beating China at the LA Olympics in August 1984, expressed her aspirations, saying, “I will gather players who do not deserve a place to play and repay the fans’ expectations with hot and cool offensive basketball.”
The first Korean journalist to cover ‘The Curtain of Bamboo’ in ChinaAt that time, Korea and China were hostile countries, and there was no diplomatic relationship, so people-to-people exchanges were impossible. Until this tournament was held in China, Asian Basketball Federation president Lee Byeong-hee (died at the age of 71 in 1997 and a 7th member of the National Assembly) played a big role.
During the 9th Asian Women’s Basketball Championship in 1982, Chairman Lee, who was a comrade of former Prime Minister Kim Jong-pil in the 8th year of the Korean Olympic Games, announced his intention to host the next tournament when China (then called the CCP) announced his intention to host the next tournament. This is because China accepted it and demanded that it be guaranteed. This is what President Lee told me in Shanghai during the event.
At the time, the domestic media community was a good opportunity to send reporters to China, which did not have diplomatic relations, so all 15 central media outlets, including newspapers, broadcasting, and telecommunications, participated in the coverage. Thanks to this, for the first time as a Korean newspaper reporter, I was able to cover China, the ‘Temple of Bamboo’. It was lucky.
Park Chan-sook plays the role of winning the comeback despite the aftereffects of the fluThe participating countries were Korea, China, Japan, Philippines, India, Malaysia, Macau, and Singapore.
Korea, led by coaching staff Cho Seung-yeon and Shin Hyeon-soo, had 12 players, including 1m 90 center Park Chan-suk, 2m 2 tall Kim Young-hee (died at the age of 60 due to a chronic disease on January 31), Kim Hwa-soon, Seong Jeong-a, Lee Hyeong-sook, Choi Ae-young, and Choi Kyung-hee.
China, who had been defeated by Korea 56-69 at the LA Olympics two months ago and failed to advance to the finals, took advantage of Chen Yue-fang (陳月芳, 2m16), who was called the “Asian Witch,” and Jeong Ha-xia, the “monster” (鄭海霞, 2m4). A situation that is waiting for.
The Chinese side got her nerves on Chan-suk Park to the point of asking, “Is number 15 (Park Chan-suk) here?”
When the tournament opened on October 13, Korea played Macau (151-35) Singapore (116-30) Philippines (105-35) India (159-47) Malaysia (106-32) Japan (91-50) lightly in turn. However, it lost greatly to China 59-76 in the first round of the finals.
Finally, the final match between Korea and China on the last day of the tournament. Amid the one-sided cheering of 20,000 Chinese spectators who filled the gym, Korea, which trailed 29-34 in the first half토토사이트, widened to 54-61 with 3 minutes and 17 seconds remaining in the second half, showing a strong defeat.
However, 6 seconds before the end of the game, with the score trailing 60-61, Choi Ae-young’s winning goal exploded, resulting in a dramatic come-from-behind victory by one point. In this process, it goes without saying that Park Chan-sook, who came out on the court and played a decisive role in encouraging her juniors, despite the aftereffects of her flu.
During the final match, I heard familiar cries of “fighting Korea” and “fighting Park Chan-sook” from the second floor spectators, so I jumped up and found that about 10 Korean sailors, who had docked at Shanghai Port the day before, went to the gym for cheering and told the Korean team to burst their throats. confirmed to have supported
At the time, Shanghai street commute time “bicycle wave” MinisterIt’s a story from a long time ago, almost 40 years ago, but the image of China as a socialist system, then and now, feels oppressive and dark. I remember it on October 10th, but it was past 10pm when I transferred from Hong Kong to China’s civil port and arrived at Hongqiao Airport.
The entry process was also very difficult. It was past 2:00 in the morning when we arrived at our accommodation, Geumgangdaeha. The hotel, which is said to have been built by the French in the 1930s, is an old-fashioned building. In 1972, US President Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai announced the Shanghai Communique, opening the way for diplomatic ties between the US and China.
The hotel restaurant the next morning. There was kimchi for the Korean team, but they served cabbage pickled only in salt without using red pepper powder or salted fish. It wasn’t edible.
On the first day of my visit to China, what I was most curious about was the street scene in Shanghai. Shik-sik was moderately stuffed with porridge and went out on the street, but I got the feeling that two people were following me.
It looked like a plainclothes police officer in China, but I felt reassured that it would protect me. Perhaps because it was rush hour, the streets were ‘waves of bicycles’. It seemed that shabby-clad citizens went to work by bicycle instead of buses or trams.
Promotional posters titled ‘Celebration Asian Women’s Basketball Championship’ were seen all over the street. In addition to the holding period and place, the name of the participating country was written, but it was written as ‘Southern Joseon Dynasty’ instead of ‘Korea’.
At the time, I received acupuncture treatment in the infirmary in the hotel together with Choi Kyung-hee, who had back pain and had the same symptoms. The Hong Kong correspondent of the Daily reported it to me via telex.
Although coverage and reporting in the field were controlled by Chinese authorities, South Korea under the military regime of Chun Doo-hwan also put a brake on coverage and reporting in China, and all articles related to China had to pass censorship before being published. Looking back, it is an old story of the days when tigers ate cigarettes.