By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Former Culture Minister Lee-Oyoung, an acclaimed writer and scholar, announced his decision last week to get baptized this summer.
Because the 73-year-old has been widely known to speak of religion from a cultural point of view, many have expressed surprise at his latest decision.
Lee even discussed the bible on a Christian television show for a year, but his approach was always kept objective.
But after witnessing his daughter’s fight againt cancer for over ten years and second-handedly experiencing spirituality through her, the former minister was said to have opened his heart.
Lee’s 47-year-old daughter, who is a devout Christian, spoke of her personal struggles at Onnuri Church in Seoul early this month. She shared how her father stood by her during the whole process.
``I wept so many tears over the past 10 years that I don’t think I slept a night without crying,’’ she said in tears during the church’s morning service.
``I haven’t gotten baptized yet, nor have I begun the process, but if someone can give my daughter what I can’t provide her, isn’t that amazing’’ Lee told Yonhap News Agency.
He also said that he would like to clearly explain how and why he had stepped away from his strict, life-long intellectual walk to the spiritual world.
``But I’m not a regular churchgoer at the moment, so I should save the details for later,’’ Lee said.
Reverend Ha Yong-jo of Onnuri Church shared the news on Easter Sunday with the congregation that Lee would get a public baptism in Japan around July of this summer.