KBS 인물현대사 – 영웅이 된 이방인, 역도산 / KBS 20031114방송

"No one thought he was Korean. He had to be Japanese." In December 1963, when Rikidozan was stabbed to death by a yakuza member at the age of 39, most Japanese still didn't know he was a Zainichi Korean. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say they didn't want to know. For the Japanese, Rikidozan was a proud Japanese hero who soothed the bitterness of defeat and instilled confidence. He, who defeated large Western wrestlers with a thumping blow in the ring, had to be Japanese. Rikidozan himself was well aware of this. He carefully concealed the fact that he was Korean, born in South Hamgyong Province and immigrated to Japan at the age of 17. However, no matter how much he became a Japanese hero and gained wealth and fame, he could never forget the fact that he was a discriminated Korean who had never reached the highest rank of yokozuna during his time as a sumo wrestler. He couldn't trust the Japanese people or Japanese society who discriminated against him. He never relaxed for a moment, running solely for success. Within that tightrope walk, he was slowly crumbling. Drinking would lead him to pick fights with the bullies around him, and his health rapidly deteriorated as he alternated between stimulants and sleeping pills. Rikidozan, a Zainichi Korean who achieved success as the highest-ranking Japanese in Japanese society, what did his homeland mean to him in this irony? Contemporary History of People, Episode 19 – Rikidozan, the Foreigner Who Became a Hero (Aired November 14, 2003) http://history.kbs.co.kr/