It is not rare for those in their silver years to enroll in Korea National Open University, set up in 1972 to offer lifelong education programs.

But Chung Han-taek, a former psychology professor at Seoul National University, pushed up the record for its eldest student beyond everyone’s imagination. At 90, Chung entered the university this month to major in English.

“Age doesn’t matter in study,” he said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

On orientation day, a 79-year-old student, who has taken the English course for two years, expressed concerns over whether Chung would be able to follow the coursework.

“I don’t worry,” Chung said. “Study itself is my ultimate goal.”

The retired professor said he had decided to become a student again to gain a good command of English so that he could read a vast variety of books written in the language.

“I thought I would be able to further enlarge my knowledge and deepen my view of life through English books,” he said.

Showing a textbook titled “Current English,” Chung said he had been trying to learn by heart “I Have a Dream,” the famous speech delivered by Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in August 1963 calling for an end to racial discrimination.

He is having a little trouble hearing lately, but with glasses on, he has no difficulty reading fine letters in handy-sized dictionaries he always puts on the table in the living room of his apartment in Bundang, south of Seoul.

The will to study led Chung, who was born into a poor family in a remote village in North Chungcheong Province, to work his way through an agricultural school, a teacher-training institute and then Seoul National University, where he majored in psychology.

He said his determination to get a higher education was strengthened as he witnessed Koreans discriminated against and persecuted under Japan’s colonial rule that ended in 1945.

He taught students at SNU and other universities until he retired in 2009, when he turned 87.

“I have spent my whole life studying and teaching and you may be finding me studying something else in a decade,” he said.

For Chung, who attended the ceremony launching a new conservative party last month, age doesn’t matter in politics, either.

He said he sees no problem with people in their 20s and 30s being elected lawmakers, but it would also be nothing but old-fashioned to disregard the elder generations just because of their age.

“What is important is not the age but whether he or she has the right leadership and commitment to devote themselves to promoting the happiness of the general public,” said Chung.

“It seems to me, however, that most politicians in the ruling and opposition parties alike are absorbed in their intraparty status and personal gains,” he said.

Chung said he would cast a ballot in the April parliamentary elections and the December presidential vote without fail, as he has done for decades.

He has a vivid memory of Rep. Park Geun-hye, the interim leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, attending his class as a student at Sogang University in Seoul.

“Park always sat in the same seat and stayed upright keeping her eyes on me throughout the class,” said Chung. “She was such a model student.”

Beyond her political values and election agenda, Chung said, her attitude as a student was impressive enough for him to vote for her in the upcoming presidential election.

By Kim Kyung-ho (khkim@heraldcorp.com)