I'd like to show a tearful episode about this bridge. You know the automobile manufacturer, Hyundai Motor Company (현대자동차 現代自動車). As you know, it is an enormous company. Our guide told us that the founder and also the top of the company was born in North Korea. He left for South Korea in his teens with a cow.
The cow was given as seed money from his father. After a half century, he became the richest person in the South. He hoped for a good relationship between both Koreas and did many things for that purpose. He is said to have illegally plunked down big money when Gim Dae-jung (김대중 金大中) visited Pyongyang. He started the Kumgang-san (금강산 金剛山) tourism for South Korean people. Kumgang-san is one of two famous and holy mountains in North Korea. Let's get back on track, the present he had given to the North Korean people when this bridge was built, was A THOUSAND cows. The view of a thousand cows passing over the bridge seemed to be magnificent. At that time, people who saw the scene were crying with a helpless deep sadness. Do you know why? People were saying, "Cows can freely move through the border, but human beings..."
(Vocabulary)
seed money 元手〔新しいビジネスを始めるための資金〕
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