South Korean woman gets driver’s licence on 960th try

SEOUL - A 69-year-old South Korean woman took the driver’s test a record 960th times before she finally got her licence, a media report said.

Cha Sa-soon lives alone in the mountain-ringed village of Sinchon in Wanju county, some 180 km south of Seoul.

This diminutive woman, now known nationwide as “Grandma Cha Sa-soon”, failed her driver’s test hundreds of times but never gave up. Finally, she got her licence - on her 960th try, New York Times reported Friday.

For three years starting in April 2005, she took the test once a day five days a week. After that, her pace slowed, to about twice a week. But she never quit.

Hers is a fame based not only on sheer doggedness, a quality held in high esteem by Koreans, but also on the universal human sympathy for a monumental - and in her case, cheerful - loser.

“When she finally got her licence, we all went out in cheers and hugged her, giving her flowers,” said Park Su-yeon, an instructor at Jeonbuk Driving School, which Cha once attended.

“It felt like a huge burden falling off our back. We didn’t have the guts to tell her to quit because she kept showing up,” said Park.

After she got her licence in May, Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, South Korea’s leading carmaker, started an online campaign asking people to post messages of congratulations. Thousands poured in. In early August, Hyundai presented Cha with a $16,800 car.

Now Cha also appears on a prime-time television commercial for Hyundai. It is a big change from her non-celebrity life, spent simply in a one-room hut with a slate roof.

“Father had no land, and middle school was just a dream for me,” she said.

Cha said she had always envied people who could drive, but it was not until she was in her 60s that she got around to trying for a licence.

“But I was too busy raising my four children,” she continued. “Eventually they all grew up and went away and my husband died several years ago, and I had more time for myself. I wanted to get a driver’s licence so I could take my grandchildren to the zoo.”

Cha tackled the first obstacle, which for years proved insurmountable: the 50-minute written test consisting of 40 multiple-choice questions on road regulations and car maintenance.

“She could read and write words phonetically but she could not understand most of the terminology, such as ‘regulations’ and ‘emergency light,’” said Park.

“It drove you crazy to teach her, but we could not get mad at her,” said Lee Chang-su, another teacher. “She was always cheerful. She still had the little girl in her.”

For each of her 960 tests, she had to pay $5 in application fees.