The small woman living in Sinchon village, about 180 kilometers from Seoul, known throughout Korea as “Grandmother Sa-soon”, has achieved a record that makes people here shake their heads in surprise. and then laughed: Grandma failed her driving test nearly 1,000 times but never gave up. Finally, Grandma received her driver’s license – on the 960th attempt, Cha’s journey to get her license has become a legend in Korea even though more than 10 years have passed.
For three years, starting from April 2005 to 2008, that year Cha Sa-soon’s grandmother was 69 years old – often had the habit of taking the driver’s license test… every day, five days a week. After that, perhaps because I failed too much, my grandmother only went to school to take exams about twice a week. But the important thing is that Cha Sa-soon never intended to give up.
Picture of Cha Sa-soon’s grandmother with a KIA donated by Hyundai.
“When she finally received her driver’s license, we all cheered and hugged her,” said Park Su-yeon, an instructor at Jeonbuk Driving School, where Cha’s grandmother studied. giving flowers to Cha Sa-soon. We feel like a huge burden has been lifted from the thin shoulders here. We don’t have the courage to tell Mrs. Cha to give up because she keeps appearing at the school. custom”.
According to Ms. Park and the teachers here, Cha’s grandmother often failed theory tests, not driving practice tests.
“She can read and write words phonetically but she cannot understand most terms, such as ‘regulations’ and ’emergency lights,'” said teacher Ms. Park.
Grandma Cha failed the theory test 949 times, but her score kept increasing. At the previous test, teachers at Jeonbuk Driving School invited Cha Sa-soon to learn more, explaining the terminology meticulously.
For each of his 960 tests, Cha Sa-soon had to pay a $5 registration fee.
In November 2009, he passed the theory test after experiencing 959 failures. From April 2005 to the time he passed the theory exam, he spent nearly 4,500 USD.
Lee Chang-su, another teacher, said: “You’re crazy when you teach her, but we can’t be mad at her. Sa-soon’s father is always happy. When she drives, she’s like a little girl.” First time touching the steering wheel.”
Mrs. Cha Sa-soon
The old woman could not hide her joy because her efforts were rewarded in another way.
Because he failed the theory test many times, not the practice test, this teacher affirmed that he would not pose a danger when driving a car on the road.
Cha Sa-soon later became extremely famous in Korea, so much so that Hyundai Group started an online campaign and asked people to post messages congratulating him. After that, Hyundai gave Ms. Cha a car worth 16,800 USD.
Explaining her “stubbornness” when taking the driver’s license exam, Ms. Cha said it was partly due to her poor childhood, which made her always want to rise up and overcome adversity. Partly because Jeonju city, where Mrs. Cha lives, is a place with quite annoying traffic density.
“Here, if I miss the bus, I will have to wait another two hours for another route to come” – Grammy Cha said. “But the most important thing is that I want a driver’s license to take my children to the zoo without having to take a taxi or anything. My children are all married and my husband passed away a few years ago, I have a lot of money. time for yourself”.
About a decade ago, before deciding to get a driver’s license, Cha’s grandmother spent three years studying and getting a hairdresser’s certificate. For six months, Grandma took a bus at 6 a.m. every weekday, transferred to a train and then hopped another bus to attend a government-sponsored hairdressing training program. But no beauty salon hired Cha Sa-soon. She was considered too old.
His goal when he passed his driver’s license exam was extremely adorable: “I will drive my grandchildren to the zoo.”
Her son, Park Seong-ju, 36, who lives in Jeonju and works as a sign and billboard designer, said: “My mother lived a difficult life, selling vegetables at the door and working work on someone else’s farm. Maybe that makes her stubborn. If she did something, no one could dissuade her.”
On the wall of Cha Sa-soon’s grandmother’s house, where there are black-and-white photos of her grandmother and her late husband as a young couple and a clock that has stopped working, she also made a writing board. hand that says “Never give up!”
