0:00:00.624,0:00:04.749
It is said that the grass is always greener

0:00:04.749,0:00:07.712
on the other side of the fence,

0:00:07.712,0:00:10.873
and I believe this is true,

0:00:10.873,0:00:13.456
especially when I hear President Obama

0:00:13.456,0:00:15.954
often talk about Korean education system

0:00:15.954,0:00:19.465
as a benchmark of success.

0:00:19.465,0:00:21.878
Well, I can tell you that,

0:00:21.878,0:00:25.349
in the rigid structure and highly competitive nature

0:00:25.349,0:00:27.647
of the Korean school system,

0:00:27.647,0:00:29.934
also known as pressure cooker,

0:00:29.934,0:00:35.593
not everyone can do well in that environment.

0:00:35.593,0:00:38.126
While many people responded in different ways

0:00:38.126,0:00:41.219
about our education system,

0:00:41.234,0:00:44.595
my response to the high-pressure environment

0:00:44.610,0:00:47.571
was making bows with pieces of wood

0:00:47.571,0:00:50.242
found near my apartment building.

0:00:50.242,0:00:52.729
Why bows?

0:00:52.729,0:00:55.539
I'm not quite sure.

0:00:55.539,0:00:59.484
Perhaps, in the face of constant pressure,

0:00:59.484,0:01:01.731
my caveman instinct of survival

0:01:01.731,0:01:05.947
has connected with the bows.

0:01:05.947,0:01:07.834
If you think about it,

0:01:07.834,0:01:11.200
bow has really helped drive human survival

0:01:11.200,0:01:13.987
since prehistoric times.

0:01:13.987,0:01:17.192
The area within three kilometers of my home

0:01:17.192,0:01:19.375
used to be a mulberry forest

0:01:19.375,0:01:21.696
during the Joseon Dynasty,

0:01:21.696,0:01:26.122
where silkworms were fed with mulberry leaves.

0:01:26.122,0:01:30.828
In order to raise the historical awareness of this fact,

0:01:30.828,0:01:35.163
the government has planted mulberry trees.

0:01:35.163,0:01:36.941
The seeds from these trees

0:01:36.941,0:01:39.740
also have spread by birds here and there

0:01:39.740,0:01:43.218
nearby the soundproof walls of the city expressway

0:01:43.218,0:01:47.523
that has been built around the 1988 Olympics.

0:01:47.523,0:01:49.947
The area near these walls,

0:01:49.947,0:01:53.065
where nobody bothers to pay attention to,

0:01:53.065,0:01:56.152
had been left free from major intervention,

0:01:56.152,0:02:02.159
and this is where I first found my treasures.

0:02:02.159,0:02:05.360
As I fell deeper into bow-making,

0:02:05.360,0:02:09.525
I began to search far and beyond my neighborhood.

0:02:09.525,0:02:11.689
When I went on school field trips,

0:02:11.689,0:02:14.913
family vacations, or simply on my way home

0:02:14.928,0:02:17.763
from extracurricular classes,

0:02:17.763,0:02:19.862
I wandered around wooded areas

0:02:19.862,0:02:21.601
and gathered tree branches

0:02:21.601,0:02:25.572
with the tools that I sneaked inside my school bag.

0:02:25.572,0:02:29.273
And they would be somethings like saws, knives,

0:02:29.273,0:02:31.519
sickles, and axes

0:02:31.519,0:02:36.207
that I covered up with a piece of towel.

0:02:36.207,0:02:38.088
I would bring the branches home,

0:02:38.088,0:02:40.077
riding buses and subways,

0:02:40.077,0:02:43.466
barely holding them in my hands.

0:02:43.466,0:02:47.342
And I did not bring the tools here to Long Beach.

0:02:47.342,0:02:49.791
Airport security.

0:02:49.791,0:02:51.209
(Laughter)

0:02:51.209,0:02:54.744
In the privacy of my room, covered in sawdust,

0:02:54.744,0:02:58.751
I would saw, trim, and polish wood all night long

0:02:58.751,0:03:01.218
until a bow took shape.

0:03:01.218,0:03:05.713
One day, I was changing the shape of a bamboo piece

0:03:05.713,0:03:10.468
and ended up setting the place on fire.

0:03:10.468,0:03:15.291
Where? The rooftop of my apartment building,

0:03:15.291,0:03:18.897
a place where 96 families call home.

0:03:18.897,0:03:21.258
A customer from a department store across my building

0:03:21.258,0:03:22.978
called 911,

0:03:22.978,0:03:24.949
and I ran downstairs to tell my mom

0:03:24.949,0:03:30.535
with half of my hair burned.

0:03:30.535,0:03:32.370
I want to take this opportunity

0:03:32.370,0:03:36.074
to tell my mom in the audience today,

0:03:36.074,0:03:38.415
mom, I was really sorry,

0:03:38.415,0:03:40.986
and I will be more careful with open fire from now on.

0:03:40.986,0:03:42.570
(Laughter)

0:03:42.570,0:03:44.711
My mother had to do a lot of explaining,

0:03:44.711,0:03:47.055
telling people that her son did not commit

0:03:47.055,0:03:50.483
a premeditated arson.

0:03:53.250,0:03:57.405
I also researched extensively on bows around the world.

0:03:57.420,0:03:59.466
In that process, I tried to combine

0:03:59.466,0:04:01.907
the different bows from across the time and places

0:04:01.907,0:04:05.690
to create the most effective bow.

0:04:05.690,0:04:08.043
I also worked with many different types of wood,

0:04:08.043,0:04:11.231
such as maple, yew, and mulberry,

0:04:11.231,0:04:13.171
and did many shooting experiments

0:04:13.171,0:04:15.670
in the wooded area near the urban expressway

0:04:15.670,0:04:18.475
that I mentioned before.

0:04:18.475,0:04:20.439
The most effective bow for me

0:04:20.439,0:04:22.775
would be like this.

0:04:22.775,0:04:27.220
One, curved tips can maximize the springiness

0:04:27.220,0:04:30.183
when you draw and shoot the arrow.

0:04:30.183,0:04:35.462
Two, belly is drawn inward for higher draw weight,

0:04:35.462,0:04:38.294
which means more power.

0:04:38.294,0:04:43.528
Three, sinew used in the outer layer of the limb

0:04:43.528,0:04:46.294
for maximum tension storage.

0:04:46.294,0:04:54.256
And four, horn, used to store energy in compression.

0:04:54.256,0:04:57.638
After fixing, breaking, redesigning,

0:04:57.638,0:05:00.200
mending, bending, and amending,

0:05:00.200,0:05:03.938
my ideal bow began to take shape,

0:05:03.938,0:05:06.241
and when it was finally done,

0:05:06.241,0:05:11.600
it looked like this.

0:05:13.489,0:05:15.634
I was so proud of myself

0:05:15.634,0:05:19.171
for inventing a perfect bow on my own.

0:05:19.171,0:05:24.632
This is a picture of Korean traditional bows

0:05:24.632,0:05:27.514
taken from a museum,

0:05:27.514,0:05:30.228
and see how my bow resembles them.

0:05:30.228,0:05:33.424
Thanks to my ancestors

0:05:33.424,0:05:36.500
for robbing me my invention.

0:05:36.500,0:05:38.328
(Laughter)

0:05:38.328,0:05:41.411
Through bowmaking,

0:05:41.411,0:05:44.625
I came in contact with part of my heritage.

0:05:44.625,0:05:47.295
Learning the information that has accumulated over time

0:05:47.295,0:05:51.767
and reading the message left by my ancestors

0:05:51.767,0:05:54.240
were better than any consolation therapy

0:05:54.240,0:05:57.836
or piece of advice any living adults could give me.

0:05:57.836,0:06:01.492
You see, I searched far and wide,

0:06:01.492,0:06:05.152
but never bothered to look close and near.

0:06:05.152,0:06:07.322
From this realization,

0:06:07.322,0:06:09.864
I began to take interest in Korean history,

0:06:09.864,0:06:13.401
which had never inspired me before.

0:06:13.401,0:06:16.514
In the end, the grass is often greener

0:06:16.514,0:06:18.936
on my side of the fence,

0:06:18.936,0:06:21.282
although we don't realize it.

0:06:21.282,0:06:25.664
Now, I am going to show you how my bow works.

0:06:25.664,0:06:29.476
And let's see how this one works.

0:06:32.184,0:06:34.306
This is a bamboo bow,

0:06:34.306,0:06:37.253
with 45 pound draw weights.

0:06:40.560,0:06:44.779
(Applause)

0:06:47.655,0:06:53.714
A bow may function in a simple mechanism,

0:06:53.714,0:06:55.677
but in order to make a good bow,

0:06:55.677,0:06:58.550
a great amount of sensitivity is required.

0:06:58.550,0:07:01.173
You need to console and communicate

0:07:01.173,0:07:03.933
with the wood material.

0:07:03.933,0:07:06.225
Each fiber in the wood

0:07:06.225,0:07:08.853
has its own reason and function for being,

0:07:08.853,0:07:12.109
and only through cooperation and harmony among them

0:07:12.109,0:07:14.907
comes a great bow.

0:07:14.907,0:07:17.989
I may be an [inaud] student

0:07:17.989,0:07:20.271
with unconventional interests,

0:07:20.271,0:07:22.613
but I hope I am making a contribution

0:07:22.613,0:07:25.351
by sharing my story with all of you.

0:07:25.351,0:07:28.494
My ideal world is a place

0:07:28.494,0:07:31.445
where no one is left behind,

0:07:31.445,0:07:34.830
where everyone is needed exactly where they are,

0:07:34.830,0:07:37.949
like the fibers and the tendons in a bow,

0:07:37.949,0:07:40.942
a place where the strong is flexible

0:07:40.942,0:07:44.645
and the vulnerable is resilient.

0:07:44.645,0:07:47.109
The bow resembles me,

0:07:47.109,0:07:49.389
and I resemble the bow.

0:07:49.389,0:07:53.853
Now, I am shooting a part of myself to you.

0:07:53.853,0:07:57.309
No, better yet, a part of my mind

0:07:57.309,0:08:00.101
has just been shot over to your mind.

0:08:00.101,0:08:02.685
Did it strike you?

0:08:02.685,0:08:05.870
Thank you.

0:08:05.870,0:08:09.870
(Applause)