KOREAN Steve Kim got married inside a hot-air balloon back in 1992. That single moment in his life captured perfectly the man and his passion.
Last year Kim, who has been a resident of the Philippines for the past 25 years, established the Asian Hot Air Balloon Federation. It has its office here in the country with Kim as its chairman having big plans, not only for the federation, but also for the country’s tourism industry.
Based in Pampanga, where he is known to most everyone from politicians to businessmen, Kim said hot-air balloons over the next 10 years can increase dramatically the number of tourist arrivals in the country.
He likened the situation in Pampanga, where the third Lubao International Balloon Festival was held, to what evolved in Saga Prefecture in Japan after it started holding its own version of the festival 35 years ago.
“Every year, they have anywhere between 1.50 million to 2 million tourists just because of the balloon festival. They always ran out of hotel rooms during that time. It can happen here in the Philippines. Lubao will be the biggest in 10 years,” Kim said.
Kim is the event director of the Lubao International Balloon Festival, which is the biggest event of its kind in Southeast Asia. This year it attracted participants from 21 countries worldwide.
How it all began
His fascination with the hot-air balloon started in the United States, where he was sent by his parents to pursue his college education
Arriving in New Jersey, Kim said he cannot speak English and really had no idea on how to survive in a foreign land.
“I cannot speak their language. I had no friends. When I was in McDonald’s, what I did was point to whatever it is I want to order,” he said.
But that all changed when he saw hot-air balloons for the first time in a New Jersey festival. It was a life-changing event for him.
From there, he got connected to a North Carolina hot-air balloon company and got his license to fly after six months of training.
He then bought a hot-air balloon for $30,000 and brought it back to South Korea. It was the first hot-air balloon in his country.
Then in 1987 Kim organized South Korea’s first hot-air balloon association, which fueled the popularity of the hot-air balloon in their country.
“My dream before was to become a jet-fighter pilot but I had an eye problem so I cannot enter the academy,” Kim said, while claiming that now he can also fly a hand glider and pilot a motor glider, fixed wing and a helicopter.
However, Kim said it would only be the hot-air balloon for him where is also a competition pilot.
He said hot-air balloons are an expensive hobby but is still more economical than owning an airplane that needs a hangar and having a lot of maintenance fees involved.
Kim said over the years, he has flown a hot-air balloon in more than 30 countries and is the first Korean to fly one over the Great Wall of China.
According to Kim, it takes a $20,000 to $50,000 budget to fly a hot-air balloon in international festivals.
“I was just lucky that I had a business in Korea that earned $3 million to $5 million yearly,” Kim said.
The company that he was talking about was Dynasty Sports Promotions, which Kim said did sporting events in South Korea for various multinational companies.
“We had car racing, ski challenges, beach cycling and beach volleyball events,” Kim added.
The move to the Philippines
Kim was no stranger to the Philippines. He claims to have been to the country during the mid-1980s, a transition time for the country.
“When I was younger, I visited the Philippines. I was here when Cory [Aquino] was elected president and during the time when Gringo Honasan [III] was staging those coup d’état,” Kim said, while explaining that he was never scared during those times.
Then, after eight years in operations, Kim decided to close his Korean company and gave all of its assets, including the building, to his staff. It was 1992 and Kim wanted to move to the Philippines.
The connection again in his bold decision to come over to the country remains to be his passion for hot-air balloons.
“We started the hot-air balloon festival in Clark during the time of the Ramos administration,” Kim said after the Department of Tourism got in touch with him.
Today Kim said that, even as the popularity of hot-air balloons in the country continues to increase, there is a need to have more licensed Filipino pilots.
“The Philippine has good open fields. It is the perfect place for those with creative minds, the romantic and the dreamer. But there is a need to invest time, education and money for Filipinos to be licensed,” Kim said.
From hot-air balloons, Kim eventually ventured into property development when he constructed a 3.5-hectare international-retirement destination inside Clark.
Then he became an adviser to the president of the Korean Association of Central Luzon and a consultant of the chancellor’s office in Angeles University (AU).
Kim remembered the country when he chose to live here long term, as having a lot of Japanese residents and tourists with Korean presence barely noticeable.
Projecting a tough-guy image, but with a soft heart for the people, Kim said he is loyal friend who sees the Philippines as his home country.
Outside of his many activities, Kim has been sponsoring the scholarship of two college students yearly at AU over the past 10 years. He is also the vice president of Rotary Metro Clark.
“I spent the prime years of my life here. This is my country. Everywhere I have friends,” he said.
Kim added that the hospitality and friendliness of the Filipino people cannot be matched anywhere in the world.
Kim said Central Luzon now has the biggest Korean population in the country, with more than 30,000 residents. It is also a convenient place for them to live because the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport in Clark have direct flights daily from Korea and the area has all the facilities needed for quality living.
The future of hot-air balloon
The Lubao International Balloon Festival, which took all of six months of preparation, received more than 120,000 visitors during its three-day run. It is a minor glimpse of the growing popularity of hot-air balloon in Asia.
The Asian Hot Air Balloon Federation counts the Philippines, along with Hong Kong, Malaysia, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam as its founding members.
It is now looking to add Taiwan, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia and India as regular members in a bid to create a yearlong Asian circuit for hot-air balloons.
Kim said the federation will be meeting in South Korea in October to come up with long-term plans for festivals, which are being held in the region.
He said it is an event that is growing fast in popularity in Asia and something that is being enjoyed by people from all ages.
Image credits: Jimbo Albano