An 85-year-old grandmother named
Kim Jeong-ja has made history as South Korea’s oldest college graduate this year.

On Friday, she slowly walked up to the stage, receiving her degree in social welfare after a remarkable journey that began at the age of 78.

Born in 1941 as the eldest of eight children, Kim grew up during the Korean War. Formal education was never an option for her.

“In my day, girls didn’t get to go to school. I worked until my fingernails wore off,” she recalled.

She spent her life working in households, lunch box factories, and bathhouses to support her family. Education remained a distant dream.

Along the way, she underwent three surgeries for her crooked back, enduring physical hardship without ever losing her quiet determination to keep going.

Her turning point came in her late 70s when she went to see her daughter off at the airport but could not read the gate signs.

The humiliation stayed with her. Shortly after, she received a flyer outside a hospital promoting an adult literacy school and enrolled within months.

From there, Kim’s life transformed. She learned to read and write, completed middle and high school programs, and became the oldest test taker of South Korea’s College Scholastic Ability Test.

She enrolled at Sookmyung Women’s University in 2024.

For two years, she studied social welfare while managing chronic back pain and a commute of over three hours. To make her 9 a.m. classes three times a week, she left home before dawn.

“The first few months were really hard,” she said. “I couldn’t understand what the professor was saying.”

Unable to type, Kim wrote three-page reports by hand, each one taking an entire day to complete. “It was slow work,” she said, “but I didn’t want to miss a single class.

She ate breakfast and lunch in the classroom because walking to the cafeteria was too painful.

Younger students frequently helped carry her backpack, walked her to the subway, and found her taxis after evening classes.

Textbooks were doubled, one copy for home, another for school, because carrying them was a struggle.

Through her studies, Kim discovered a deeper passion for helping others.

On February 27, 2026, with a navy cap on her head, 85-year-old Kim Jeong-ja officially graduated from Sookmyung Women’s University.

Kim now intends to pursue a 4-year degree in child welfare studies and is learning English to communicate better with grandchildren living overseas.

“I don’t know if my health will allow it, but I’ll keep holding a pencil until the day the heavens call me,” she said.

Lee Chang-soo and Chen Lingzhen lived a love story many compared to the Korean drama ‘Crash Landing on You’.

Their romance crossed borders, turning two elite judo athletes into symbols of devotion that defied nations and changed both their lives completely.

Born in Pyongyang, North Korea, Lee Chang-soo began practicing judo at a young age.

By the late 1980s, Lee had become a celebrated athlete, winning medals and earning recognition as one of North Korea’s top judo competitors.

In 1989, Lee competed at the World Championships, where fate intervened.

There, he met fellow judoka Chen Lingzhen, representing Taiwan. Despite the language barrier, they connected instantly and promised to reunite at the Beijing Asian Games the following year.

At the 1990 Beijing Asian Games, Lee’s pursuit of gold ended in a silver medal, losing to South Korea.

Back home, he reportedly faced harsh punishment with manual labor, including being forced to work in a coal mine.

In 1991, during the World Championships in Spain, Lee made his move. On the way back, he escaped his handlers in Europe and sought asylum at the South Korean embassy in Germany.

It was a terrifying leap into the unknown, driven by a desperate desire for freedom and love.

Lee’s defection stunned the sporting world, halting exchanges between North and South Korea. 

In a press conference upon arriving in Seoul, Lee publicly declared his undying love for Chen, hoping she would hear him.

Hearing his plea, Chen defied her family and flew to South Korea.

They reunited and married a year later, completing their ‘Crash Landing’ romance. They built a happy life together, raising three sons who followed in their footsteps as judo athletes.

Tragically, this beautiful saga ended on January 20. Lee Chang-soo passed away from cardiac arrest at the age of 58.

His wife announced the news with a heartbreaking tribute, bidding farewell to the courageous man who crossed insurmountable lines just to be by her side forever.

BTS’ Jin has gone viral after reportedly saving a 21-year-old Brazilian college student from a robbery. 

The incident, which took place in July 2023, highlights a unique way the K-pop idol protected a fan during his military service.

The student, Natali Vitoria Ramos Reis, was waiting at a bus stop in Curitiba after night classes when an unknown man approached her.

He snatched her phone, intending to steal it, but quickly returned the device and fled after glancing at the back of the case.

The phone case displayed a photo of Jin wearing his military uniform and a face mask.

Natali believes the robber assumed the man in the picture was her boyfriend serving in the military, prompting him to return the phone and flee immediately.

At the time of the incident, Jin was indeed serving his mandatory military duty in South Korea.

He enlisted in December 2022 and was recognized as an ‘elite soldier,’ earning an early promotion to corporal for his excellence in training and combat skills.

While Jin never knew the student, the moment highlighted his unexpected influence even during enlistment.

Fans around the globe were amused by the report, joking that Jin’s commanding presence is powerful enough to deter criminals even from thousands of miles away.