A post written 10 years later by an athlete who received military exemption through the Asian Games...

It has already been 13 years since I set out to pursue my dream in the United States..
As with all things, the struggles in a foreign land were indescribably difficult...
In particular, what caused me much pain was the longing for my family and my homeland...
The moments when I had to eat among other athletes and worry about which table to sit at...
The situations where I always had to wait a long time for my turn whenever I needed something...
Those days when I just hoped for even one person to treat me with kindness....
Amidst all that, my school days filled my heart with nostalgia..
The school days when I shared a beer with my teammates, embracing one another through the hardships of training or the difficulties from coaches and seniors...
The school days when we cheered and hugged each other after a team victory... The days when we woke up at dawn to clean and do laundry with our peers... Those times were truly what I longed for while living in America..
After enduring the hardships, I eventually achieved my dream of becoming a Major Leaguer, but as a young player of a different ethnicity, even more struggles constantly arose as I tried to adapt to success...
During that time, the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games gave me an incredible gift.
Could I describe it as the emotion felt when separated families are reunited?
That was it... There were so many things to be glad about and so many things to be grateful for..
Perhaps every time I joined the national team after that, I was experiencing a happiness all my own.
In particular, during the WBC, our strong performance gave me immense pride and great happiness, as if responding to the discrimination that had made my life in the U.S. so difficult...
It was surely because the Taegeuk mark was right before our hearts as we fought for certain victory.
Everyone! There are even people who sacrifice their lives for their country...
It is a great stroke of luck to be able to play the baseball that I play for the sake of my country.
In particular, knowing that one's performance can bring joy and meaning to many others is an incredibly precious reward...
Sometimes, there are people like Mr. Park Seung-il, a Lou Gehrig's disease patient, who strives for others even when facing death.
I may not even be a hundredth of such people, but I want to give hope to those who are struggling through the baseball I play.
I give my passion to baseball, and in the future, I study so that I can be someone who knows baseball well, not just someone who played it well...
From Chan-ho, who wears the Taegeuk mark with pride....
Our leader T_T