“I Want to Repay the Train Fare from 48 Years Ago”... ‘Nangok-dong Grandmother’ Visits Yeongdeungpo Station with 5 Million Won [Warm Stories]

[Financial News] An elderly woman in her 80s who received help 48 years ago because she did not have the 500 won needed for her young son’s train fare has returned to Yeongdeungpo Station with a handwritten letter and an envelope containing 5 million won, saying she wanted to repay the kindness.

According to JoongAng Ilbo on the 14th, an elderly woman in her 80s visited Yeongdeungpo Station on the 26th of last month and handed over a handwritten letter and an envelope containing 5 million won in cash.
The letter began, “I am finally trying to repay a very old debt.” It expressed her gratitude for the kindness she received from the stationmaster in October 1978, when she was traveling from Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province, to Yeongdeungpo Station on a local train.
The letter read: “At the time, my child was an elementary school student. I did not have enough money, so I bought only my own ticket, and my child had no ticket. We had only one token. I explained our situation to the stationmaster, and thankfully, he told us to go ahead. I bowed, turned around, and promised myself, ‘I will repay this money before I die.’ It is very late now, and it is far from enough, but please accept at least this much. Thank you so much for everything. From the Nangok-dong grandmother.”

After receiving the grandmother’s letter, written carefully with gratitude and sincerity in every character, employees at Yeongdeungpo Station posted a reply titled “To the Nangok-dong Grandmother” on a bulletin board inside the station.
The employees wrote, “Thanks to the courage, warm heart, and deep emotion you brought to Yeongdeungpo Station that day, we are able to spend each day as if it were a gift,” adding, “We have never gained such a profound realization in our lives.”
They continued, “You showed us what true courage is and how beautiful it is to remain grateful for the consideration and kindness received from others,” adding, “Above all, you made us reflect once again on the attitude we should have when approaching each customer as station employees.”
They added, “We will never forget the heart you showed us. We will become people who pass warm feelings and good memories on to others,” and continued, “We sincerely thank you for giving us such precious lessons and moving us so deeply. Please visit Yeongdeungpo Station anytime. We will be waiting for you with warm hearts.”
The grandmother reportedly visited Yeongdeungpo Station with the handwritten letter and cash to repay her emotional debt after her son, who had been battling an illness, recently passed away.
A representative of KORAIL’s Seoul Metropolitan Area Western Regional Headquarters said, “We firmly declined when the grandmother offered the cash, but she said she really wanted to give it to Yeongdeungpo Station, so we ultimately accepted it,” adding, “Because she did not want to reveal her identity, we considered how to express our gratitude and decided to write a reply inside the station.”
Meanwhile, the regional headquarters plans to record the 5 million won delivered by the grandmother as miscellaneous income and review how to use it in the future.

[email protected] Kim Soo-yeon Reporter