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It is said that the grass is always greener

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on the other side of the fence,

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and I believe this is true,

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especially when I hear President Obama

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often talk about Korean education system

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as a benchmark of success.

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Well, I can tell you that,

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in the rigid structure and highly competitive nature

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of the Korean school system,

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also known as pressure cooker,

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not everyone can do well in that environment.

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While many people responded in different ways

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about our education system,

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my response to the high-pressure environment

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was making bows with pieces of wood

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found near my apartment building.

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Why bows?

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I'm not quite sure.

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Perhaps, in the face of constant pressure,

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my caveman instinct of survival

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has connected with the bows.

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If you think about it,

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bow has really helped drive human survival

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since prehistoric times.

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The area within three kilometers of my home

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used to be a mulberry forest

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during the Joseon Dynasty,

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where silkworms were fed with mulberry leaves.

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In order to raise the historical awareness of this fact,

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the government has planted mulberry trees.

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The seeds from these trees

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also have spread by birds here and there

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nearby the soundproof walls of the city expressway

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that has been built around the 1988 Olympics.

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The area near these walls,

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where nobody bothers to pay attention to,

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had been left free from major intervention,

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and this is where I first found my treasures.

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As I fell deeper into bow-making,

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I began to search far and beyond my neighborhood.

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When I went on school field trips,

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family vacations, or simply on my way home

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from extracurricular classes,

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I wandered around wooded areas

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and gathered tree branches

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with the tools that I sneaked inside my school bag.

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And they would be somethings like saws, knives,

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sickles, and axes

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that I covered up with a piece of towel.

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I would bring the branches home,

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riding buses and subways,

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barely holding them in my hands.

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And I did not bring the tools here to Long Beach.

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Airport security.

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(Laughter)

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In the privacy of my room, covered in sawdust,

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I would saw, trim, and polish wood all night long

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until a bow took shape.

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One day, I was changing the shape of a bamboo piece

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and ended up setting the place on fire.

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Where? The rooftop of my apartment building,

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a place where 96 families call home.

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A customer from a department store across my building

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called 911,

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and I ran downstairs to tell my mom

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with half of my hair burned.

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I want to take this opportunity

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to tell my mom in the audience today,

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mom, I was really sorry,

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and I will be more careful with open fire from now on.

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(Laughter)

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My mother had to do a lot of explaining,

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telling people that her son did not commit

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a premeditated arson.

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I also researched extensively on bows around the world.

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In that process, I tried to combine

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the different bows from across the time and places

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to create the most effective bow.

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I also worked with many different types of wood,

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such as maple, yew, and mulberry,

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and did many shooting experiments

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in the wooded area near the urban expressway

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that I mentioned before.

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The most effective bow for me

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would be like this.

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One, curved tips can maximize the springiness

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when you draw and shoot the arrow.

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Two, belly is drawn inward for higher draw weight,

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which means more power.

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Three, sinew used in the outer layer of the limb

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for maximum tension storage.

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And four, horn, used to store energy in compression.

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After fixing, breaking, redesigning,

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mending, bending, and amending,

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my ideal bow began to take shape,

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and when it was finally done,

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it looked like this.

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I was so proud of myself

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for inventing a perfect bow on my own.

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This is a picture of Korean traditional bows

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taken from a museum,

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and see how my bow resembles them.

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Thanks to my ancestors

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for robbing me my invention.

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(Laughter)

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Through bowmaking,

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I came in contact with part of my heritage.

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Learning the information that has accumulated over time

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and reading the message left by my ancestors

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were better than any consolation therapy

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or piece of advice any living adults could give me.

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You see, I searched far and wide,

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but never bothered to look close and near.

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From this realization,

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I began to take interest in Korean history,

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which had never inspired me before.

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In the end, the grass is often greener

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on my side of the fence,

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although we don't realize it.

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Now, I am going to show you how my bow works.

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And let's see how this one works.

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This is a bamboo bow,

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with 45 pound draw weights.

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(Applause)

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A bow may function in a simple mechanism,

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but in order to make a good bow,

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a great amount of sensitivity is required.

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You need to console and communicate

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with the wood material.

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Each fiber in the wood

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has its own reason and function for being,

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and only through cooperation and harmony among them

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comes a great bow.

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I may be an [odd] student

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with unconventional interests,

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but I hope I am making a contribution

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by sharing my story with all of you.

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My ideal world is a place

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where no one is left behind,

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where everyone is needed exactly where they are,

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like the fibers and the tendons in a bow,

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a place where the strong is flexible

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and the vulnerable is resilient.

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The bow resembles me,

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and I resemble the bow.

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Now, I am shooting a part of myself to you.

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No, better yet, a part of my mind

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has just been shot over to your mind.

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Did it strike you?

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Thank you.

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(Applause)