24 questions of Samsung founder

By Kim Ji-myung

The sinking of the Sewol ferry has thrown all Koreans into an unprecedented sincere reflection about life and death, and love for family. Parents are now grateful for the simple fact that they can eat dinner together with their children. The tragedy has awakened many Korean parents to some very basic truths.

Many fundamental questions are now boggling our minds. It reminds me of the 24 questions that were raised by the late founder and chairman of the Samsung Group, Lee Byung-chul, just before he died in 1987. Chairman Lee wanted to know answers to these questions but he did not raise them overnight.

"Chairman Lee was not a man of academic or pedantic style at all,” said his last secretary at a recent all-religion meeting. He had been one of Lee's closest aides during his final eight years.

The chairman's queries started casually some 10 years before his death. The first question was straightforward and realistic: ``Why do our CEOs tell lies? Why do they promise higher growth in sales when they know they cannot meet the goal?”

Thus more than 100 questions of Chairman Lee were collected and condensed to 80, and then again and again until the final 24 core questions were decided.

He sent them to his close friend and Catholic priest Park Hi-bong (1924-1988). They were relayed to Monsignior Chung Ui-chae, a professor at the Catholic University of Korea, who was known for his religious scholarship.

Monsignior Chung prepared answers for these questions, and had planned to visit Chairman Lee, but the meeting was delayed because of Lee’s faltering health and he passed within a month. Monsignior Chung has kept these questions and answers for some 20 years.

In 2011, Monsignor Chung had his junior priest Cha Dong-yeop present answers to these questions, to the world. These questions, according to Catholic fathers, are the very basic fundamental issues of theology textbooks. People tend to arrive at these same questions when they face the moment of truth.

They are direct, succinct and numbered. Let me quote a few of them.

1. How can you prove God's existence? Why doesn't God clearly reveal himself?

2. How can it be proved that God is the creator of the universe and all living things?

3. Biologists advocate that human beings are the outcome of a long process of evolution. How is this different from God’s creation of humans? Are humans or living creatures not a result of evolution?

4. Science continues to advance. Maybe someday life would be synthesized, opening an era of healthy longevity. Will, as a result, the existence of God be denied?

5. If God loves people, why does he give us pain, misfortune and death?

6. Why did God create villains, for example, Hitler, Stalin and all kinds of criminals?

7. If Jesus died to save us from our sins, what are our sins? Why did he leave us to continue to sin?

10. What are the spirit and soul?

12. If one does not believe in Catholicism, does that mean no entrance into heaven? There are many good people among those who have no religion, atheists, and people of other religions. Where will they go after death?

13. If the purpose of religion is to help people live morally, then why do Catholics consider their religion as the only true religion and other religions as cults?

14. How can we believe that the spirits or souls of people who have died do not die, but go either to heaven or hell?

16. "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." Does this mean that all the rich are bad guys?

17. If 99 percent of the Italian population are Catholics, why is there so much disorder in the society and crimes, and why can they not set a good example for the world?

19. I heard that Catholicism and Communism are incompatible. Then why were Catholic countries communized, such as Poland and Nicaragua?

20. Every other house in Korea seems to be a church, and there are so many believers. Then why do social crimes and sufferings inflict us?

Father Cha Dong-yeop presented answers in his book ``Forgotten Questions that Will Pump Up the Heart” published in 2011 by Myungjin Publishing House.

"In these questions, we don’t see any high or low status or rich or poor people. There is profound distress in mankind. I am a priest, who should answer these questions.”

Father Cha authored many books, including "Rainbow Principles,” which is a record 1.5 million seller in the Catholic community.

One additional note here is that, thinking Father Cha’s answers are ``not religious and sincere enough." Elder Noh Myeong-gwan of Jesus Hope Church offers his own answers in the book "Rainbow: How the Bible Says” in 2012 by publishing house Bookshelf.

Koreans are known for their energy to overcome hardships, which has been demonstrated in numerous historic events. But the issue of maintaining a working safety system in every area is not something that should be "overcome,” but rather be challenged squarely to prevent similar tragedy in the future.

The writer is the chairwoman of the Korea Heritage Education Institute (K*Heritage). She can be reached at heritagekorea21@gmail.com.