Father Lee Tae-seok to be introduced in South Sudanese textbook

Father Lee Tae-seok (see photo), a Korean priest who died of cancer in 2010 after serving years to volunteer as a doctor in South Sudan, will be covered in the textbooks of the country in February next year.

South Sudan’s Education Minister Deng Deng Hoc Yai said Monday that a committee is currently writing about the Korean priest’s inspirational life and achievements. The minister said his story will be included in textbooks published this year and released next year in time for the new semester in February next year.

Lee’s life story and photographs will take up an entire page in elementary school social studies textbooks and two pages in middle school textbooks on civil rights. Lee is the first foreigner to be introduced in the textbooks for social contribution and volunteer work. The education ministry planned to produce them in 2015 and release them in 2016. The plan has been delayed by around two years due to the political chaos and the lack of budget.

Lee studied medicine at Inje University and graduated from Gwangju Catholic University, but in 2001 he went to South Sudan where he set up a small clinic and took care of patients in the town of Tonji. Locals liked him calling him, “Father Jolly.” His life was made into documentary film “Don’t Cry for Me Sudan,” which deeply moved many Koreans. He died of colon cancer at 48 in 2010.

Su-Yeon Kim sykim@donga.com