The 64th anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule was commemorated on August 15th, 2009 in a public event at New York University sponsored by the 6.15 NY Committee and the NYU East Asian Studies Program.

In 1945, as World War II ended, Korea was liberated—and immediately divided. Ever since, the date of August 15th has signified both joy and tragedy for the Korean people. In a program that looked at the past and present, speakers and a video screening examined the consequences of this continued division and the recurrent tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Dr. Alex Choi of the 6.15 NY Committee, a group dedicated to the reunification of Korea, moderated a program that began with the video “Im Soo-Kyong’s Story.” This piece documents the south Korean student’s trip to north Korea back in 1989 and her subsequent walk back to south Korea across the DMZ—a dangerous, and incredibly emotional and symbolic act for the reunification of the country. The joy of the north Korean crowds that greeted her and her brave statements of unity made for wistful recollections, as she was subsequently sentenced to a ten-year prison term upon her return to south Korea. Such visits then—and now—remain illegal.

Professor Em of the NYU East Asian Department then spoke of the division and the events leading up to the Korean War, and how varying political points of view have often masked the reality of what happened. In particular he explored and how those views have reverberated down through history, including in the very memorials built to commemorate the war. He pointed out how the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. is emblazoned with the quote: "Our Nation Honors Her Sons and Daughters Who Answered the Call to Defend A Country They Never Knew and a People They Never Met.” For a war that left millions dead, devastated almost the entire peninsula, and has never truly truly ended, such a statement is tragically revealing of the U.S. attitude.

John Kim, Esq., a member of the 6.15 NY Committee, then spoke about the legacy of the division and the Korean War, and the hope for a peace treaty and eventual reunification. He spoke of the National Campaign to End the Korean War, which formed in the past year (http://www.endthekoreanwar.org) and the effort to grow a movement to finally end the Korean War with a peace treaty between the U.S. and north Korea.

Finally, in the most moving segment, members of the Nodutdol 2009 DEEP trip – (D.P.R.K. Exposure and Education Program) spoke of their experiences visiting north Korea this summer, at the height of the tensions around the north’s nuclear and missile tests and the imprisonment of the two Current TV reporters. DEEP aims to increase people-to-people interaction between Korean Americans and the people of north Korea, as part of the effort to breakdown stereotypes and the fear that exists on both sides, and to expand understanding of the north Korean history and culture. For the three DEEP participants who spoke, their stories were varied, but all heartfelt.

For Betsy Yoon, a second generation Korean American, the “Korea” of her family’s memory was only south Korea. Her trip showed her that the north Korea presented in the media and mirrored in the minds of American people was very different from the one she saw and experienced. There was poverty, and concerns for both the past and potential future war – but also love, pride, a lack of guile and hope for the future.

For Sarah Ahn, also a second generation Korean American, the absence in north Korea of ‘historical amnesia' was very striking. In the U.S., where the ethos is to forget everything for the sake of 'moving forward', and where even in her own family the word “reunification” was never mentioned, ‘it was a breath of fresh air’. She made the point that reunification would be a correction of a historical wrong—and while difficult, worth working for. Moreover, she said that imagining what a unified Korea could be, would empower us to make it happen.

Finally, for Sooyoung Lee, a 1.5 generation Korean American, the division’s tension was visceral. Having grown up in south Korea, learning to make anti-north posters, and taught to fear “horned” northern devils, he had doubts about even making the trip to the D.P.R.K. He was most worried that the “strangeness” of the north would make him revert to his childhood fears and close his mind to anything else. He admitted to his hosts finally, that he felt the 38th parallel was in his mind. “Visiting North Korea felt as though I was visiting the home of my relatives who we’ve not been allowed to visit because of some family feud long time ago, a feud that we weren’t involved in but somehow inherited all the venoms of mistrust in our hearts. So it is strange and fearful, yet familiar...”

August 15th commemorations such as this are a reminder that the past, while full of pain, is also a testament to the strength of the Korean people—and their righteous hope for justice, for peace, and for the reunification of Korea. As time goes by, there will be fewer and fewer Koreans who remember when there was only one Korea. It is our responsibility—especially as residents in the country that caused the division— to make sure that this is not simply a fading memory, but a real and concrete future.

About Nodutdol eNews

Nodutdol eNews is the monthly e-mail newsletter of Nodutdol.Through grassroots organization and community development, Nodutdol seeks to bridge divisions created by war, nation, gender, sexual orientation, language, classes and generation among Koreans and to empower our community to address the injustice we and other people of color face here and abroad. Nodutdol works in collaboration with other progressive organizations locally, nationally and internationally as part of a larger movement for peace and social change.

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