Kim was born in Yitong County in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, in northeastern China's Jilin Province. After graduating from the Changchun Teachers' College in 1992, Kim became a teacher in a normal school in Yanbian. But soon her newly married husband Cui Chunhu, a PLA pilot, was transferred to southern China. Kim said good-bye to her family and hometown, and followed Cui to Anqing on the Yangtze River.

In Anqing, Kim declined the offer to work at a government office but insisted in taking the job of teaching. "I love teaching," she said. "While being with my students, I feel my life becoming more valuable." She began teaching Chinese in a middle school near his husband's barracks.

Kim adapted herself to the new life quickly. Gradually she created her own unique method in teaching. A born dancer and singer, as many Korean people are, she made her classes lively and recreational, attracting students to learn the knowledge willingly. Her teaching programs and theses were rewarded in Anhui Province repeatedly and the class she taught ranked Anqing's No. 1 in the examinations.

Meanwhile, Kim aided more than 50 students who had financial problems to finish their schooling. She never thought about being repaid, but said that the best comfort for her was to see these students enrolled into higher learning institutes.

But life seemed unfair to this model teacher. On September 4, 2001, her husband Chunhu's airplane did not come back. Kim was shocked by the tragic news and fell ill. For her goodness, the authorities of the PLA air force and the Anqing city government suggested that she move back to her hometown or to Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu Province, to liver in better conditions. She refused these thoughtful offers and said firmly, "I've fallen in love with the land where my husband and I worked and lived. Chunhu has gone, but my career remains."

(China.org.cn November 10, 2002)