Professor Ahn Kyong Hwan's impression of President Ho Chi Minh

With his love for the country and people of Vietnam, Korean Professor Ahn Kyong Hwan (Honorary Citizen of Hanoi ) has chosen a special journey: Bringing the quintessential values ​​of the Vietnamese people closer to the Korean people. From the immortal poems in President Ho Chi Minh's "Prison Diary", to the beautiful language in Nguyen Du's "Truyen Kieu" or the emotional memories of General Vo Nguyen Giap, Professor Ahn Kyong Hwan has diligently translated each word, with all respect and understanding.

When mentioning President Ho Chi Minh , the great leader of the Vietnamese people, the Professor's eyes lit up with deep admiration. He could not hide his emotions when mentioning his noble humanistic thoughts and simple, great lifestyle. To him, President Ho Chi Minh is not only a symbol of independence for the Vietnamese people, but also a shining example of wisdom, tolerance and aspiration for peace, values ​​that transcend all national boundaries.

Especially when translating the book “Prison Diary”, he understood and deeply understood the ideals and great personality of President Ho Chi Minh. In many exchanges and lectures with students from Vietnam to Korea, sharing about the book of poems, he could not hide his honor and pride when expressing his feelings for Uncle Ho.

“To me, President Ho Chi Minh is the great leader of the Vietnamese people, one of the world 's outstanding revolutionaries. I admire and respect him immensely. Currently, when I think of President Ho Chi Minh, I always remember the saying: “Nothing is more precious than independence and freedom”.

Professor Ahn Kyong Hwan is passionate about spreading Vietnamese literary works to Korean readers.

During more than a year of imprisonment, President Ho Chi Minh was not only deprived of his freedom, but also had to endure the bitter cold and the torture of hunger. But it was in this adversity that he wrote the pages of his “Prison Diary” full of steel, love, and revolutionary spirit. He also nurtured a sacred oath: Once he was released from here, he would definitely lead his people to independence, freedom, and happiness. In 1943, Uncle Ho was released. And just two years later, on September 2, 1945, at the historic Ba Dinh Square, President Ho read the Declaration of Independence, giving birth to the Democratic Republic of Vietnam,” Professor Ahn Kyong Hwan expressed.

Talking about the difficulties in translating the poetry collection “Prison Diary”, Professor Ahn Kyong Hwan smiled, his eyes filled with nostalgia: “I had studied Chinese characters before, so I did not encounter many difficulties when translating, because the original work was written in Chinese. I compared the Chinese and Vietnamese versions of the work as a basis for translating into Korean, I am sure that the Korean translation I translated is the most complete among the translations in the world”.

Honorary citizen of Hanoi, Professor Ahn Kyong Hwan was honored to receive the Special Prize of the contest "Hanoi in me".

However, the most difficult thing when translating a literary work is to understand the author's psychological state: Why do they see things and phenomena from that perspective? Only when that is understood, will the translation have soul and be authentic. From there, Professor Han had many memorable experiences in his translation work. He recalled the emotional moments before the image of a prisoner with many chains but a free soul and the times he took the train to Sen village, Uncle Ho's hometown.

“In 2002, when I started translating “Prison Diary”, I went alone to Nam Dan district, Nghe An province, the hometown of President Ho Chi Minh. Why? To understand “Prison Diary”, I needed to understand the mindset, circumstances, and origins of the writer. I thought: 'I have to see with my own eyes the place where Uncle Ho was born, to somehow understand his soul through each verse.' So I quietly boarded the train from Hanoi, traveling for 7.5 hours to Vinh station. Then I took a motorbike taxi, traveling another 20 kilometers to Uncle Ho's hometown, Lang Sen. Up to now, I have visited President Ho Chi Minh's hometown 8 times", Professor Ahn confided.

In particular, after completing the translation in 2003, Professor Ahn brought it to the Publishing House. But it was rejected, the Publishing House said that the book would not sell, they would lose money. After that, Professor Ahn used his own money to print 1,000 copies of "Prison Diary" in Korean, giving them to friends across the country. He hoped that his friends in Korea could understand who President Ho Chi Minh was, what kind of person he was, and be inspired through the rewards and stories of President Ho Chi Minh.

“Now the publisher has agreed to publish it because many people buy it. I don't remember how many times the Korean version of 'Prison Diary' has been reprinted, and the Tale of Kieu by the great poet Nguyen Du...”, Professor Ahn happily said.

Deeply understanding the value of the poetry collection “Prison Diary” by President Ho Chi Minh, Professor Ahn believes that the values ​​and influence of the work will be spread more and more widely and we need to encourage the younger generation to live and work following the example of the great Uncle Ho, cultivating “Complete Humanity, Intelligence, and Courage”. He always wishes to contribute a small part of his intelligence to those activities.

National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Kim Thi Ngan received and awarded the Friendship Medal to Professor Ahn Kyong Hwan in 2018. Photo: Trong Duc/VNA.

In 2005, Professor Ahn mobilized 25 famous Korean calligraphers to participate in performing works in the poetry collection “Prison Diary” and donated the collection to the Ho Chi Minh Museum and had the honor of displaying it on the occasion of the 105th anniversary of Uncle Ho’s birth. At the same time, he mobilized to organize 5 exhibitions of these calligraphy works over a period of 11 months, in 5 major cities of Korea: Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Mokpo and Gwangju. In 2010, he organized the “Korean-Vietnamese Friendship Night” to celebrate the 1,000-year history of Thang Long-Hanoi at the Korean National Assembly.

“Just through a book, Koreans may not understand much about President Ho Chi Minh as well as Vietnamese culture, so I held many conferences and dissertations about President Ho Chi Minh. I also organized a calligraphy event, Vietnamese culture and a workshop about President Ho Chi Minh. Since then, many Koreans have loved Vietnam and President Ho Chi Minh more. Later, many Koreans also created and painted pictures about President Ho Chi Minh.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was difficult to organize a live conference, I organized an online conference about President Ho Chi Minh, then printed the papers into a book and sent it to 100 Korean parliamentarians so that politicians could learn about President Ho Chi Minh…”, Professor Ahn Kyong Hwan shared.

Professor Ahn Kyong Hwan’s tireless contributions over the years have not only contributed to spreading the values ​​of Ho Chi Minh’s ideology to international friends, but also built a bridge of friendship between the two peoples of Vietnam and Korea. In the middle of May, full of memories and gratitude, Professor Ahn Kyong Hwan’s sharing is like a gentle but profound reminder: The great values ​​of President Ho Chi Minh are still quietly spreading, inspiring and connecting across five continents.

Hong Phuong/ News and People Newspaper

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/van-hoa/an-tuong-cua-giao-su-ahn-kyong-hwan-ve-chu-pich-ho-chi-minh-20250518213837683.htm