14. Paul Needs to Learn to Read/Write Korean - Page 2
We Pay Each Worker 1000 Won One trip to the top took about 6 hours up a 6 mile trail with an climb of about 3000 feet. When they finished their trip we fed them and paid them a day's wages. The Army gave me 1,000,000 Korean Won, which I had to sign for to pay the men. Each man received 1000 Won a day. They would line up and I would pay each man his wages. 1,000 Won amounted to 16 cents US but was good wages for those days.
Problems Arise Well I observed that as soon as I paid them they would get back at the end of the line again. This would not do the job. So that day I marked each hand with a black mark so the could not get paid more than once. I also had them write their name on a pad so I could have a record to show where the 1,000,000 Won went to the Army. I noticed that many men signed their name with what looked like 7 1/12. When I asked about that some man explained that the 7 represented the letter kiak or K in English. The 1 was the letter I pronounced a ee and the 12 was the letter Mium and the English M. So the 7 1/12 was the common Korean name of Kim. After that you showed me your ID card and I wrote down your ID number and your name. If you tried to get paid more than once I gave your name to the police. That could represent big trouble for the workers.