The lasting legacy of Ho Chi Minh

BY SHIN BOK-RYONG
The author is a professor emeritus of history at Konkuk University.

When I arrived at the Hanoi airport, I felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. The devastation of the war is sad. The 30,000 Lai Dai Han were waiting for their fathers to come, and their mothers said, “I am raising your children.”

Now, Lai Dai Han are over 60 years old and have been treated as a “mixed blood from the war.” It is the “wound” Koreans had to take care of, but the Korean government kept their hands off. I was more scared of the people who welcomed me without showing any hostility.

Ho Chi Minh was an orphan from a poor rural area. He smuggled himself to France at age 21, and struggled in Paris, London and New York for 30 years. In my opinion, there are three politicians who deserve praise in modern history: Mahatma Gandhi, who left only two pieces of clothing, a spinning wheel, and a pair of glasses behind; Zhou Enlai, who did not have children and also left nothing upon death, regardless of his relationship with Korea; and Ho Chi Minh.

Ho Chi Minh became the first president of Vietnam in 1945. He was single and lived in the residence of an electrician at the French colonial government residence. When he died, he requested that those he left behind, “keep the funeral simple, do not erect any memorial, cremate me and spread ashes in North and South Vietnam.” He did not leave any more than that of Venerable Seongcheol, one of the greatest masters of Zen Buddhism in Korea.

But Vietnamese people built a memorial hall in downtown Hanoi, directly across from the parliament, and preserved his body permanently, so that Vietnam’s future politicians would not forget Ho’s legacy.

Vietnam is no longer a “sad tropical country,” but a place to pay a silent tribute to. Wherever you go in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh’s legacy flows. I envy any country that has such a leader. How could he overcome such a harsh life with such kind eyes? He is very different from world leaders who want to build palaces upon retirement.