[Warmth: Recording moments of human kindness]
Senior Officer Park Sung-yong of Bucheon Wonmi Police Station
Lost his father in childhood, grew up in a welfare household
A boy once helped by an anonymous donor, now a police officer giving back
Has produced a 'fit cop calendar' since 2018, donating all proceeds
"There are eyes you never forget, no matter how much time passes. It was a complicated expression — a child who desperately wanted to escape the father who had beaten him black and blue, yet at the same time seemed to be longing for that same father's care."
Senior Officer Park Sung-yong, 44, of the Central District Unit at Bucheon Wonmi Police Station under the Gyeonggi Province Southern Police Agency, has spent more than eight years producing a charity calendar to help children who have suffered abuse.
The scene that has stayed with Park the longest was one he responded to after a neighbor reported hearing a child crying continuously. Even from outside the door, he could hear heavy thuds and the sharp crack of breaking dishes.
Inside, the apartment was in chaos. A boy who looked to be around first grade was covered in bruises left by his drunken father.
"When I went to help the child, I realized that watching his father being taken away by police could itself become another wound," Park recalled. As he searched for a way to tend to the boy's emotional scars, he said, he found himself seeing his own difficult childhood reflected in the child's face.
Park's own early years were far from easy. When he was 11 — in third grade — his father died of a heart attack, and he grew up in a household that relied on basic welfare support. The family lived together in a 30-square-meter public housing apartment, leaning on one another to get by. Throughout his school years he never once bought new clothes, and even eating out was a luxury they could rarely afford.
A natural athlete from an early age, he dreamed of becoming a basketball player, but the family's financial hardship forced him to let that dream go. He spent about four years working as a fitness trainer before choosing to become a police officer — a career his late father had also dreamed of for him.
Park joined the force in 2008 through the open recruitment process for patrol officers. He volunteered for the Central District Unit at Yeongdeungpo Police Station, a posting notorious at the time for its concentration of entertainment venues and constant foot traffic that kept the area blazing day and night. Starting his career in one of the busiest and most incident-prone beats in the country, he ranked first nationwide in criminal arrests among community police officers for four consecutive years and received two special promotions.
Along the way he earned the nicknames "King of Arrests" and "RoboCop." His powerfully built frame and thick forearms — honed through years of training — also drew attention, and he picked up a string of other monikers: "Korea's Dwayne Johnson" and "the fit cop," among others.
Then, in 2018, the birth of his first child brought a change in Park. Becoming a parent deepened his desire to do something — however small — for children growing up in unstable environments. He decided to channel what he did best, physical training, into helping those children, and set about creating a charity calendar.
The first fit cop calendar, produced in 2018, came together through the participation of fellow officers. The original plan was to select 12 officers to match the 12 months of the year, but 18 officers from across the country ended up taking part.
As more officers expressed interest in joining, a dedicated selection competition was established. Today, 48 officers are chosen from among 100 to 120 applicants nationwide through the Miss and Mister Police Korea contest.
From the outset, Park has held to one firm principle for the fit cop calendar: the children who receive donations are never asked to write thank-you letters or pose for photographs.
He, too, received help from an anonymous donor through a welfare center when he was young. But every time he received support, he was required to write a thank-you letter and then stand in the hallway of the welfare center, letter in hand, to have his photograph taken.
Other children his age who saw him there would mock him. The help was something to be grateful for, but the process left its own wound on the young Park.
"It's a memory that gave me a deep sense of shame at the time," he said. "I did not want well-intentioned help to become yet another source of hurt for children."
Proceeds from calendar sales go toward the treatment, recovery and livelihood support of abused children through organizations including the Community Chest of Korea.
The giving that Park started has also inspired giving from others.
One supporter who runs a tangerine farm on Jeju Island, wanting to contribute to the cause, has sent 100 boxes of tangerines every year for five years. He added a request that the gift be delivered in the names of the officers who participated in the calendar, not his own.
Others have continued to offer support as well, donating stationery, clothing and other items children need.
Over the past eight years, the fit cop calendar has raised about 150 million won ($112,000) in total donations. This year alone, roughly 32 million won has been collected.
"Looking back as an adult, I think that without someone's help back then, I could have gone down the wrong path," Park said. "The help I received as a child made me who I am today, and now I am in a position to pass that help on to other children."
He added that he hopes the calendar will keep public attention on child abuse not only when a shocking case makes headlines, but consistently, as an everyday concern.
kido@heraldcorp.com
