If at first you don't succeed try another 959 times

Cha Sa-soon, a 69-year-old woman who lives alone in a mountain village about 100 miles outside of Seoul, became an unlikely national celebrity.

As a young woman she had dreamed, like many, of passing her driving test.

A right of passage of youth that brings with it a sense of total freedom. The open road.

For Ms. Cha it took a bit longer than most to realise her dream.

She started driving lessons in her early sixties.

Months soon turned into years and five years later she was still turning up to the driving test school at least once a week.

Finally, on her 960th attempt she passed the test.

Yep, that’s not a typo.

When it got wind of this momentum’s occasion the PR opportunity was not lost on Hyundai (South Korea’s largest carmaker) as persistence is held in high esteem in Korean culture.

They created a website for fellow citizens to post messages of congratulations. Donations started flooding in and it wasn’t long before the car company presented the new driver with a brand new Hyundai.

The icing on top of the cake (for Hyundai’s PR department at least) was that Mrs Cha’s surname literally translates as ‘motor vehicle’ in Korean.

Her refusal to give up tapped into the post Korean War mentality of perseverance when times were tough and has become something of a national trait.

How many times would you attempt something before giving up?

Next time you feel close to given up on something you really care about spare a thought for a smiling old lady from South Korea.