Born in Jeongseon, Gangwon Province, home to the Korean folk song Jeongseon Arirang, Kim Young-soo, a 50-year-old barber, often talks proudly of the scenic views of his mountainous hometown. Clippings of newspaper articles with pictures of the region are on the wall of his barbershop, which he has run for four years in Amsa-dong, eastern Seoul.

He has been going to the Jumong Rehabilitation Center for kids suffering from cerebral palsy every third Thursday since 1996 to give the children there haircuts.

“If I missed a visit to the rehabilitation center, I would feel guilty,” Kim said.

He has only ever missed a visit once, when a barbers’ organization in which he holds an executive position went on a trip some years ago. 

“I kept refusing to go but other members waited on a bus in front of my barber shop, so I called the rehabilitation center and said I could not come on that day,” he said. The kids had to wait until the next month for a haircut.

He says he started to help out at the center to become a better person.

Kim, who was born into a family of eight siblings, said he had an unhappy youth.

His hometown, where two streams merge into one, holds an event where people sail a raft along the rivers and reach Maponaru in Seoul. Similarly, his journey started from his woody hometown to the most industrialized city in Korea.

After his family separated after his father lost all their money gambling, Kim stayed for a while with his father and his new wife.

“I saw one night my dad making a bag with straw ropes which he put a blanket in,” Kim said.

When he was 12 years old, Kim was sent to a barber shop in a nearby town with the straw bag. Kim’s father bought him steamed bread and a pair of rubber shoes on the day.

He says, however, after he was sent to a barbershop he felt more freedom than when he stayed at the house with his father’s new wife.

For four years at the barbershop, he carried buckets of water and cleaned the floor but never learned any barbering skills. He then moved to a busier town near the station in the region and worked at a different barbershop.

In 1970s, when Korea’s economy was still underdeveloped, Kim said he was one of many children who stayed outside with nowhere to go. He had to sleep anywhere he could, such as on the streets and in the back of trucks. He stole bread to fill up his empty stomach. He and other kids gathered together to smoke dumped cigarette butts and drink alcohol.

“I did many bad things until when I was 30 or even older. I was at the lowest point of my life in the early 1990s with gambling and drinking,” Kim said.

It was a monk who changed his life. Kim shaved his head 16 years ago.

“The monk asked me if I wanted to do volunteer work at a welfare facility, and I said I would think about it. I was hesitant at first worrying that I had to continue going there,” Kim said.

“I never easily give up. And I have never given up volunteer work for the past 16 years,” said Kim.

Many people have given up after cutting the kids’ hair several times, Kim said.

He spends around four hours at the welfare facility from 1 p.m.

In the earlier years of his volunteer work, more than 50 kids would be in line waiting for a haircut. Since the kids with cerebral palsy are hardly in control of their muscle movements the work is not easy.

“I was overwhelmed at first since there were too many kids waiting. Nobody can do this work except skilled people like me,” Kim said.

Since last year, a female hair designer has joined Kim and the work load has lessened.

“Now visiting the center makes me feel relieved,” Kim said.

Barbershops are on the decline with many young people going to hair salons and fewer interested in learning barber skills. However, running a barber shop has nothing to do with money for Kim. It was his life-long dream to open his own shop. After years of wandering he has settled down in the place where he lives now.

“As far as my health allows me, I will keep doing volunteer work. It is kind of a way to make up for all the bad things I did in the past.”

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)