An old three-storeyed granite building and a bust of a woman stand near Ryongwang Pavilion in Pyongyang.

The bust depicts a well-set, stern-looking woman with a white hempen hood on her head and in neat Korean clothes gazing afar. She is Paek Son Haeng (November 19, 1848-May 8, 1933), a patriotic woman of Pyongyang who commanded the respect of people for her devotion to working for society with a huge sum of money she had collected by her diligence, frugality and savings beyond imagination.

Born in Pyongyang, she was tormented by hunger and utter destitution from her childhood.

She lost her parent in her childhood and got married at 13. Though widowed at the age of 16, she remained faithful to her dead husband until her eighties, and became rich by saving every penny she earned by her own labour.

She tried all kinds of jobs.

She earned money assiduously, finding no time to wear make-up, selling bean sprouts, bean curds and flowers, weaving hemp cloth and cotton cloth, raising pigs and selling even food leftovers.

She was better known as Widow Paek than by her name, and her way of making money was so bold and unique that she was the focus of public attention from her early days.

It is said that the site of the limestone mine belonging to the Sunghori Cement Factory today was once her property.

She had bought the rocky mountain which nobody cared for at a low price and sold it to the Japanese capitalists for dozens of times more than what she had paid.

Even though she was rich, she did not seek personal glory; she led a simple life, eating frugal meals, and donated her money she had saved all her life unsparingly to society.

The first thing she did for society was to build a bridge.

Seeing people in trouble whenever the wooden bridge in her locality submerged in the water in the rainy season every year, she built a stone bridge there in 1908.

Later on, Pyongyang people, who were moved by her noble deed, called her Son Haeng (good deed in Korean) and named the bridge Paekson Bridge after her.

As she loved children by nature, she invested a colossal sum of money into the development of national education.

Kwangsong Primary School, Changdok School, Sungui Girls’ School and other schools in Pyongyang were financed by the profits from tens of hectares of land she donated.

Whenever she met children on her visits to schools she was sponsoring, she would say:

“You are the sons and daughters of Korea who should shoulder the future of the country. You must study hard day and night without being tempted to play or put aside your books though you might be tired of studying. The independence of our country depends on how you study.”

In those days, there was a city public hall for the Japanese in the new street of Pyongyang.

When she learned that no Korean was allowed to enter it, Paek was so indignant that she proposed the construction of another public hall exclusively for Koreans and assumed the whole responsibility for this project by herself and invested tens of thousands of won .

The construction of such a large building was a big challenge at that time when even design proceedings cost a huge amount of money, but she managed to complete the project with great magnanimity and vigour.

As a result, a three-storeyed granite-trimmed building with offices, library and lecture hall capable of seating nearly 1 200 people was built in front of the Ryongwang Pavilion so that all Koreans could use it to their heart’s content.

After that, people erected her bust at the gate of the building to commemorate her virtues.

On the day of her funeral, the procession of men and women of all ages including students of Changdok School, Kwangsong School and Sungui Girls’ School following her coffin was as long as four kilometres, though she had no living relatives.

Many people grieved over her death, and there were so many callers for condolence that it was the first-ever public funeral in Korea.

The building of the public hall is now called the Paek Son Haeng Memorial.

Yang Ryon Hui