We have carefully conducted this interview with Daesung. After that shocking accident which happened 4 months ago, not only did he immediately suspend all of his activities, he didn't want to do any media interviews neither. Under such kind of situation, he said to us "I believe my conducting Champyungan interview is not decided by people, If God agrees to this, then it will happen, if it is not the time, then it will not happen. We do not need to insist on doing it too much." A few days later, we received a reply from him "Your interview request is accepted"
On 2nd Oct, 2011, after finishing 2 prayers,we met Kang Dae Sung...
1) We interviewed you last year but lots of things have happened since then. How are you recently?
Dae: Basically I spend my time in church, normally I help out at church or the youth group Hepzibah, and then I go to the Commission.
2) You have been doing things like these since you put a lot of time and efforts in church, What do you feel?
Dae: After the accident, a lot of things happened and it was very tiring, I even had thoughts like "If people do not trust me, I don't really know what stupid things that I would do. "after going through the most tiring 3-4 days, I wanted to meet with the church elderly - the overseer of my church. I asked a pastor and asked him whether it was alright to visit the elderly, and I got positive reply. After meeting him, I felt at ease and he gave me a lot of good words which comforted me. His words calmed my mind and then the church has become my everything, it is the only place where I can find a piece of peaceful mind.
3. "If I don't recieve the trust from others, I will probably have done stupid things" what does this mean?
Dae: Artists often commit suicide,don't they? I can understand their feeling because there is a reason why the artists would commit suicide. Although I don't have any suicidal thoughts, I think if I don't get the trust from people, I will drift further to the suicidal paths.Therefore, I have to be thankful to the power of prayers. I have to thank you for trusting me, Those comments really hurt my heart. These words made me feel tired. Once a stranger brought a banner with "Killer" on it and stood in front of the church entrance. People use the term "Killer" to look at me, that is what I think.
4. As long as you are staying inside the church,then it doesnt matter. Are you feeling this way?
Dae: Of course, since there was a group of people witnessed this situation, I could not be peaceful anymore. However,I have gained back my peaceful mind inside the church. On the contrary, I felt very anxious in the dorm. At that time, I could not eat anything but in the church I could do so. Because there were works need to be done at church, so while I was working, I would not think negatively.
5. For those people who dont believe in the saying that"going to church will help you to calm down your mind" If this does not work, why do I feel that I have been calmed?
Dae: We are the followers of the church, we shall be able to undetstand the meaning of it. For me, when church is compared with my home,being at church makes me feel more peaceful. I have read articles which are reporting that I can gain a piece of peaceful mind at church, then people think positively about gaining peace at church and they are giving good comments about this, too.
6. How did you spend you time on the first 3-4 days after the accident?
Dae: It was impossible for me to step out from my room,I felt very guilty, the scene of the accident always appeared in my mind. When I was alone at my dorm, I always thought about negative stuff, and that was what I did for a whole day.
7. So what else did u think about in that period of time?
Dae: Whatever it was, I though it was due to my fault so i felt very sorry towards him (the victim) and I prayed a lot. But when I prayed, I remembered the moment when the accident happened so I could not keep on praying. This was just the beginning though, after praying, I said "Sorry" and then I was no longer able to pray more to God at that time again. Within those 20 minutes, I just kept saying "Sorry" then I began to cry.
8. Why did you feel sorry?
Dae: Firstly, I felt sorry for the victim, my company and fellow members. Also when I thought about it, I felt that our church might be affected by that matter. I did not only expose the church to bad influence but the church also had to suffer from bad comments. I felt very sorry. I also felt very sorry to my parents and his parents.
9. After this incident, did you go to his funeral. I guess it's not an easy thing to do.
Dae: My pace was heavy but I thought I needed to go. No matter what, I was involved in this matter. I bore a very deep feeling of sorrowful so I thought I really needed to go. However, it was very hard to step into his funeral hall and I had to meet his family members.face to face,too. Unexpectedly, his family members comforted me.
10. So what did they say?
Dae: They (the victim's family members) should feel very angry with you at that time but after talking to each other, they said "the incident has become what it is right now, in the future we need to cherish and live our life more seriously, I wish the reason for us to meet again is because of wonderful things" His auntie told me that his parents were really sick at that time. Therefore, his auntie who is also a Christian came forward to talk to me. Since she is a Christian, after praying to God, she thought that she should forgive me.
11. When people encounter things like this, a sentence is likely to pop up, ‘ why it is me’?
Dae: I was so careless at that time and I cannot figure out why this happened to me even until now. As time passed, when the incident was approaching to its end, then I realized why. When I was taking a rest, I seized the time to reread some chapters of bible and reflect about my position in my belief. I think it is because God wanted to grant me such a time for doing so, therefore, he arranged this incident for me.
12. You have been working under the lime light for a long time but now you have been in hiatus for several months, aren’t you bored?Dae: I certainly want to sing but I do not have the confidence to carry out the activities with happy smiles nowadays. I am not bored to show you what I really feel now. Up til now, I still think that the time that I spend at church is the best. Home- Church; Church Home, I think this is the best cycle for me.
13. How are you feeling now?
As time passes, I don’t feel panic anymore since I know that I have the talent and the mission that I must accomplish. I am getting myself ready for the restart of my journey gradually.
14. Concerning ‘the mission that you must complete’, are you still holding the same belief as what you held before the accident?
Dae: The accident just granted me some time to reflect upon my belief and I am now even more sure of what I believe in. I am praised because of my voice and I am gifted with it. It is really my pleasure to be gifted like this. Moreover, my profession enables me to preach my belief to the people everywhere. I want to utilize this opportunity most.
15. After the incident, the overseer of the church has been helping you. Do you still see each other now?
Dae: Yes, we still see each other very often now. I will discuss the matters with him no matter they are big or small. After the accident, I will pray to God before I draft and carry out my schedule. In fact, we were going to a trip on the following day which the accident took place and it would be the first vacation after we had come back to the showbiz. After that incident, I discovered that I had not prayed to god before making the decision of going to that trip. Not only for that trip, the same principle applies to all situations. That’s why I think it happened all because of my faults.
16. It is really great that you have such a mindset so do you thank God for this too?
Dae: I thank God very much. If it were not that accident, I would have walked a few steps forward on the secular world but I would never have gotten the chance to understand and restart my life thoroughly. I seized the chance to reflect on the things that happened on me in that period of time. After the reflection, I understand why I have to experience it now. I thank God for granting me such a chance. On the other hand, I am also reminded that I should always be alert to everything.
17.When you are tired, what did your parents say to you ?
Dae: They said, 'don’t worry.' When I was staying in the dorm alone for the first 3-4 days after the accident, my mum came and visited me. However, I did not really want to see anybody so mum was mad at me. They have accepted everything and have been supporting me until now. I feel that I have owed them and I am really thankful for having them by my side. They will just be mad at me if I am not behaving reasonably.
18. I heard that you have invited G-Dragon to go to church with you?
Dae: I think it is because of me that he went to church. G-Dragon hyun expressed his desire to go to church to the manager. Originally hyun wanted to go to other churches and it had been a long time since he had gone to church. Therefore, I asked him when he would come back to church, he said it was quite tiring to go there after carrying out his activities. Then I tried to figure out how I can let G-Dragon hyun relax and come back to church. I then took the initiative to invite him to church. In fact, originally we are not allowed to pray at our church at that period of time but ultimately the church allowed us to do so.
19. So you two are close to each other?
Dae: We five are very close to one another. Since G-Dragon hyun is the leader of the team, he can understand my situation more easily.
20. However, why did he go to your church?
Dae: Yes, I always go to church myself Either I stay at my dorm or I will go to church. Maybe he is curious about what kind of church I am going to. The composers of my company also go to my church and he might be influenced by them, too. When G- Dragon hyun came, I was reading bible and the church was still under renovation at that time. G-Dragon hyun said, ‘it is okay’ and then he bursted into laughters. I had never thought that he would come and what we were singing at that time was , ‘I love Jesus’. We were finishing the service when we were saying, ‘I love Jesus’. When the overseer was preaching, I was jotting down the notes very seriously. G-Dragon hyun, who was sitting next to me said, ‘I cannot really hear what he is saying very clearly.’ I thought it was common among the first-time comer so I explained some of the content for him. After that service, he found it was a really good experience. Therefore, he came again next time and greeted the overseer. On our way home, I asked him how he felt about the meeting. He said when he looked straight into the eyes of the overseer, it was just like the senior knew what he was thinking about and it was a great feeling.
Korean source: Champyungan
Chinese translation: 咚咚噗 @BBCN via Baidu English translation: rnosel@twitter and Rice @bigbangupdates
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