"I tried introducing salsa to the Iraqis just to kill time after the roads were closed at 8 p.m. and also to get to know them better," Byun explained. "But, I had to be careful because the people were just getting over the ravages of war. The night before our team returned home, we held a party for the locals and I danced the salsa in front of everyone to lighten up the atmosphere. My passionate dancing seemed to relax the Iraqis, and seeing that made me forget the fatigue I have been under for the past month."

The surgeon said he originally took up salsa to sleep better. When his hospital was undergoing difficulties because its pharmaceutical functions were being separated from its fundamental ones, Byun was on night duty 25 days per month. The irregular lifestyle made him gain weight, and Byun ballooned to 90 kilograms. He sweated profusely during operations and could not stand still for long because his knees ached. "My body told me that I needed to exercise immediately," he said. Then a senior surgeon transferred to the hospital and introduced Byun to the world of salsa dances.

For five months, Byun practiced the basic steps and waist turns of salsa whenever he had a minute during lunch, before and after work, and even at the hospital auditorium. He lost about 15 kilograms and started sweating less. He also held a small salsa concert for the patients of his hospital last year. He said they danced and cried after the show.

Byun said that he is honored to be able to stand beside the most renowned salsa dancers at the Salsa Congress. "I am satisfied with the fact that I will have a chance to watch the best salsa performers dance and that I will be able to learn something," he added. (Choi Gyeong-woon, codel@chosun.com )