Kim Sa-bok
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| Kim Sa-bok | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1932 Wonsan, then part of Kankyōnan Province in Korea, Empire of Japan |
| 💀Died | 19 December 1984 (aged 52) Seoul, South Korea19 December 1984 (aged 52) |
| 💼 Occupation | Hotel taxi driver |
| Known for | Driving the German journalist Jürgen Hinzpeter into Gwangju during the Gwangju Uprising of May 1980 |
| 👶 Children | 2, including Kim Seung-pil |
Kim Sa-bok (Hangul: 김사복; 1932 – 19 December 1984) was a South Korean hotel taxi driver who, in May 1980, drove the West German ARD correspondent Jürgen Hinzpeter and sound recordist Henning Rumor from Seoul into Gwangju during the military crackdown on the Gwangju Uprising,[1] enabling Hinzpeter to film the only sustained foreign video record of the killings.[2][3] Hinzpeter referred to him by name as "my brave taxi driver, Kim Sa-bok" in his acceptance speech for the Song Kun-ho Journalism Prize in 2003, but was unable to locate him before his own death in 2016; Kim's identity was confirmed in September 2017 by his elder son, Kim Seung-pil,[4] after the release of the 2017 South Korean feature film inspired by their journey.[5][1]
Biography
Kim was born in 1932 in Sinpung-ri, Wonsan, in present-day North Korea, and came south as a child; orphaned after his parents drowned in a separate boat crossing, he was raised by an aunt in Busan before later moving to Seoul.[6] A devout Catholic with the baptismal name Paul, he ran a small hotel-taxi operation out of the Paresu Hotel in Hoehyeon-dong, central Seoul, which kept high-end Saehan Record sedans on call for foreign guests;[7] his clientele consisted chiefly of foreign correspondents based in Seoul and Tokyo, and he had a working knowledge of English and a long-standing acquaintance with Hinzpeter, dating to at least the mid-1970s,[8] when the two had crossed paths during coverage of the dissident publisher Chang Chun-ha's death.[2][9]
On 20 May 1980 Kim collected Hinzpeter and Rumor from the Chosun Hotel and drove them to Gwangju, passing the military cordon by claiming his passengers were German businessmen looking for a missing colleague; he made a second trip into the city with Hinzpeter on 23 May, after the latter had returned from Japan to deliver his first reels of film.[2][9] Kim is said by his family to have suffered persistent depression and heavy drinking after the events in Gwangju, and he died of liver cancer in Seoul on 19 December 1984 at the age of 52, four years after the uprising and without ever publicly discussing his role.[2][1] His son Kim Seung-pil produced photographs of his father with Hinzpeter that were authenticated by the journalist's former ARD-NDR colleague Peter Krebs and by Hinzpeter's widow, Edeltraut Brahmstaedt, in September 2017, ending decades of speculation that "Kim Sa-bok" had been a pseudonym.[2][10] The following year Kim Seung-pil filed a criminal defamation complaint in Gwangju against the far-right commentator Chi Man-won, who had publicly labeled Kim Sa-bok a North Korean spy[11] and questioned the testimony of Gwangju citizens; Gwangju city council and nine civic groups subsequently approved a proposal to reinter Kim's remains at the May 18th National Cemetery beside Hinzpeter's memorial monument.[12][1]
See Also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Cabbie who drove German reporter during 1980 pro-democratic uprising to be buried in Gwangju". The Korea Herald. Yonhap. 24 December 2018. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "37년 만에 '택시운전사' 김사복씨 찾았다" [After 37 years, the 'Taxi Driver' Kim Sa-bok has been found]. The Kyunghyang Shinmun (in 한국어). 5 September 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ 기자(=광주), 박호재 (2019-06-14). "'택시운전사' 힌츠페터·김사복, 5월 묘역 재회 끝내 무산". www.pressian.com (in 한국어). Retrieved 2026-06-26.
- ↑ Han, Fred (2018-08-02). "How "A Taxi Driver" Helped Me Connect With My Family". Cinema Escapist. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
- ↑ Min, Yea-Ji; Lee, Hana. "Film tells story of German reporter in May 18 Democratic Uprising". Korea.net. Korean Culture and Information Service. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ "카메라와 핸들이 바꾼 역사: 힌츠페터와 김사복, 두 남자의 광주행" [History changed by a camera and a steering wheel: Hinzpeter, Kim Sa-bok and the two men's journey to Gwangju]. Pressian (in 한국어). 18 May 2026. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ "드디어 "김사복 씨 찾았다!"" [At last, "We have found Kim Sa-bok!"]. Goodmorning Chungcheong (in 한국어). 24 August 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ Sang-Hun, Choe (2017-08-02). "In South Korea, an Unsung Hero of History Gets His Due". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Min, Yea-Ji; Lee, Hana (18 May 2018). "Documentary revisits 'A Taxi Driver' story". Korea.net. Korean Culture and Information Service. Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ Kim, Ji-hye (5 September 2017). ""37년만에 찾은 택시운전사"…김사복-힌츠페터 함께 찍은 사진 공개" ["The taxi driver found after 37 years"…the photograph of Kim Sa-bok and Hinzpeter together is released]. SBS News (in 한국어). Retrieved 24 June 2026.
- ↑ Cheong-mo, Yoo. "Son of "A Taxi Driver" hero sues conservative for calling his father N. Korean spy | Yonhap News Agency". Yonhap News Agency. Archived from the original on 2026-01-15. Retrieved 2026-06-27.
- ↑ Shin, Dae-hee (4 June 2018). "5·18 외신기자 도운 택시운전사 김사복 아들, 지만원 검찰 고소" [Son of taxi driver Kim Sa-bok, who aided foreign 5.18 reporters, files criminal complaint against Chi Man-won]. Newsis (in 한국어). Retrieved 24 June 2026.
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