Kim Young-do, Korea's first black mixed-race baseball player, discovered his master's thesis at his alma mater

(Busan = Yonhap News) Reporter Park Seong-je = The master's thesis of Kim Young-do, Korea's first black mixed-race baseball player, whose whereabouts had not been confirmed for a long time, was discovered at his alma mater, Dong-A University.

Dong-A University announced on the 17th that director Ji-young Hong, who directed the documentary film 'Baseball Harmony', checked the original master's thesis of Young-do Kim on the 15th and received related materials from the university.

Mr. Kim, who was born in 1950 to a Korean mother and an American soldier, is Korea's first black mixed-race baseball player, having entered Dong-A University on a baseball scholarship in 1968.

During his time at Dong-A University, he earned the nickname 'Wild Guy on the Ground' by playing the 3rd and 4th batters and first baseman, but was unable to integrate into the mainstream of Korean baseball.

The movie 'Baseball Harmony' sheds light on his life and deals with the discrimination, identity, and reconciliation between families that mixed-race people experienced after the Korean War.

Mr. Kim's master's thesis discovered this time was not located for a long time as he was unable to keep it.

However, Director Hong, who was tracking Mr. Kim's life, confirmed that his thesis was preserved at his alma mater, Dong-A University, and personally visited the university to secure the materials.

Director Hong said, "I knew that Professor Kim Young-do completed his bachelor's and master's degrees at Dong-A University, but I was always disappointed because I could not check the original thesis." He added, "This excavation is very meaningful in that the traces of one person's academic achievements and life were fully preserved by his alma mater."