Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Battery engineer's quadruplets celebrate 1st birthday
Samsung SDI senior engineer Jeong Hyeong-kyu poses with his wife and their quadruplets during the four babies' first birthday party in this photo provided by the firm Sunday. / Courtesy of Samsung SDI
By Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
In Korea where the low birthrate has emerged as a serious issue, giving birth to quadruplets is extremely rare.
In this regard, the family of Jeong Hyeong-kyu, a senior engineer at battery maker Samsung SDI, has become the talk of the town since his wife Min Bo-ra gave birth to four babies on Dec. 9, 2017.
The quadruplets, three boys and a girl, arrived six weeks earlier than their due date and had to remain in incubators for a while. But a year later, the four babies are healthy and now Jeong has a family of seven including his six-year-old daughter.
While raising Si-woo, Si-hwan, Youn-ha and Si-youn, Jeong said he and his wife received a lot of help from many people.
“We have had hard days for the past year, but I have felt emotions of happiness and appreciation,” Jeong said Monday. “The help we received was not just for infant care. We also received precious advice for raising the quadruplets from many people.”
Jeong said the quadruplets recently had their third “first birthday” party last week with blessings from their families, friends and neighbors.
During the party, the quadruplets also had a “doljabi” or traditional Korean event celebrating their first birthday.
In the doljabi event, the babies are encouraged to pick an item among various objects such a gavel, stethoscope, calligraphy brush or a book as it is believed that the item they pick foretells their future. The quadruplets wowed the guests as the three sons picked the gavel while the daughter chose the microphone.
Samsung SDI employees also celebrated the first birthday of the quadruplets.
Jun Young-hyun, CEO of the firm, penned a birthday message and presented it to the babies. Jeong's fellow workers also wished the quadruplets a happy birthday, posting hundreds of birthday messages on Samsung SDI's online company newsletter SDI talk.
After spending a year with the quadruplets, Jeong said he and his wife have become masters of making powdered milk.
“They consumed a can of powdered milk a day so we needed exactly 365 cans over the past year,” said Jeong, adding they had to make about 4,000 bottles. The quadruplets also go through about 30 diapers a day ― more than 10,000 diapers over the past year.
Jeong said every day with the quadruplets has been like a war but that he would teach them to become people who know how to do favors for others, as they have received a lot of help from so many people.
“Every day is war. When one of my children pulls a tissue out and eats it, the other three follow and do the same things,” Jeong said. “Over the past year, we had a lot of help from many people around us. I will tell my children to become people who know how to share with others.”