Father Lee Tae-seok was born in Songdo, Busan, South Korea in 1962, the ninth of 10 siblings. He lost his father early and grew up in a difficult situation with a single mother, but his musical talent was outstanding from an early age. He started playing music with the organ in the cathedral and was already composing in elementary school.
The song ‘Meditation‘, written and composed in high school, is well known. Always close to the cathedral, He dreamed of becoming a priest since childhood. However, after hearing that one of his older sisters was going to enter a convent, his mother, unable to oppose her wishes, cried all night and gave up the idea of becoming a priest.
Don bosco, Everything is Good.
The priest visited his homeland for vacation in November 2008, but could not return to Tonj. He was diagnosed with late stage colorectal cancer at a health checkup. Even during his year-long struggle with the disease, the priest was all about the children she left behind in Tonj. The children of Tonj, who had to be together, wanted to overcome the disease because they were stepped on in the snow. The last words that such a priest said when leaving the children of Tonj were ‘Don bosco, everything is good.’