Captain, do you play better than (Novak) Djokovic?”
On the afternoon of the 23rd of last month, Park Joo-yeon (43, Sports Toto Korea), the national women’s wheelchair tennis representative, brought up a joke mixed with good wishes at the tennis court of the Icheon National Training Center of the Korea Paralympic Committee. Then, Kim Jin-hyeok (43), the captain of the Hangzhou Para Asian Games, who was on the other side of the court, jokingly replied, “Isn’t that what you’re talking about because of the bad manners?”
On this day, Director Kim, the CEO of a restaurant franchise company, started a full-fledged skinship with the team by providing special meals such as fried rice to 71 members of the national team. March 22-28) was appointed as the captain of the team.
Director Kim, who met with ‘D Interview’ at the main building of the Icheon National Training Center this morning, said, “I am not a person who has been in sports, so the advice I can give to athletes about sports can be limited.” There were many hardships. I believe that there will be experiences that can be shared with national players who are pushing the limits in their respective fields of sports.”
Director Kim is a grade 4 physically handicapped person. In December 2009, when he was 30 years old, while riding a motorcycle to deliver food at night, he collided with a drunk driving car making an illegal U-turn, resulting in a disability in his right leg. Due to an accident that occurred at his young age, Director Kim fell into frustration enough to think about choosing a theater company.
It was the misfortune he encountered while overcoming many difficulties to get his place. Director Kim left his mother, who suffered from cervical cancer, a year after he was born. Three years later, his father also died of illness, and he grew up in the care of his mother’s sister, his aunt, from the age of five. However, his aunt, who followed him like his parents, also left Director Kim, then 21 years old, due to liver cancer in 2000.
It was after he was discharged from the military in May 2003 that Kim made up his mind. He needed to find a way to live, so he started delivering from a Chinese restaurant in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. He worked 13 hours a day from 8:30 am to 9:30 pm. When he gets home and falls asleep around 11pm, he has to wake up in the middle of the night at 3am the next day. It was because he delivered newspapers at dawn before going to work at a Chinese restaurant.
Despite his busy life, Director Kim nurtured his dream of becoming an entrepreneur. His delivery days were specific to his business analysis. He was able to look at restaurants that failed even though the food tasted good스포츠토토, and restaurants that lined up even though the taste was not good. While waiting for the food to be delivered, you could see how the chef prepares the food. From 2007, he also worked as a kitchen assistant and accumulated cooking secrets.
In the meantime, in 2011, after 10 months of hospitalization, Director Kim, who became disabled in an unexpected accident, took over a 25-pyeong restaurant in Jungnang-gu, Seoul with half of his savings. Instead of being frustrated by his disability, he mustered up the courage to start anew. He focused on the memos he wrote while working part-time in the past and increased the size of his business. Since then, franchisees have become representatives of more than 140 restaurant franchises.
Director Kim said, “I felt that in order to succeed in business, I needed a lot of support from people around me, such as a good education and environment. I have never received such support, so when I see people struggling against adversity, I feel a desire to help. It was in the same context that I accepted the position of director of the Asian Para Games.”
“As I made a lot of money through my business, I lived in a bigger house and tried a better car. I was happy at first, but it didn’t get better as I made more money. Instead, I felt the best when I saw the staff at the restaurant doing well with me,” he added.
Director Kim also understands the good influence that sports can have on a person’s life. When he was a boy who lost his parents and lived in the arms of his aunt, Captain Kim was always a timid and introverted child. It was sports that energized Kim’s life. He became interested in sports while watching the basketball-themed drama ‘The Last Match’, and through basketball he grew into an adult who knows how to get along with his peers.
The fact that he is the representative of his restaurant franchise is one of Kim’s differentiated strengths. This is because he can take a step closer to the hearts of the athletes through food. Director Kim plans to operate a food truck and communicate with the athletes at the Wheelchair Basketball KBS Cup Olympic Games held on the 22nd at the Peace Gate Plaza in Seoul Olympic Park.
General Manager Kim said, “I know that there were many great people among his former general managers. I am worried about how good I can be as a general manager, not a sports expert.” As the disabled leader, he will more deeply sympathize with the players’ stories and will do his best to cheer and support them to the best of his ability.”