This is a quick post about the speaker Hyewoo Sun from the first day of Orientation. He was so fabulous and I liked his speech/presentation so much that I wanted to share some thoughts.
I have ALWAYS heard the discussion of J & K politics through a Japanese perspective--which to be honest isn't in-depth. There is a huge shame culture in Japan and the idea that they did some of the atrocities in the past 100 years is not something easy to talk about. If you're not familiar with Japanese actions in the last 100 years towards people in Korea and China--think about what the Nazis did to the Jewish people. That level of sheer...sickness...might be a good word...? Anyway, at most it is glossed over in a Japanese history lesson (given by a Japanese professor); at worst it is a single bullet point called: Japanese Imperialization without any comments. I also had a course in college taught by an American professor who studied Taiwan. In this case, it was interesting to see an American's viewpoint because I think naturally, that generation of Americans will side with Japan (just because people know more about Japan than Korea.)
Anyway, it was super super SUPER fabulous to hear a Korean talking about the Japanese Imperialization time because suddenly a whole new side of the story had been unfolded and presented (albeit in carefully wordings). He talked about his how his grandmother was born in 1925 (Japanese Imperialization was from 1910-1945). So she grew up not being able to leave the house because her family was afraid she would be taken and put in a work camp. Or that she basically didn't go to school or learn how to read and write. In fact, she learned how to write Hangeul (the Korean alphabet) 5 years ago. She is 85. She learned how to write her NATIVE language at 80.
He talked about how his grandmother married a man in 1940 and then he went off to war. And never came home. Not even his body. He said that his aunt still thinks that he's peacefully living in another part of the country (even though he would be about 97).
He talked about how, because his dad's dad (the grandfather) died in the war, his dad was exempt from having to do the compulsory military time. Which means, his whole family was freaking out when he entered the compulsory military time.
Guess when Hyewoo Sin started his military time? 9/01/01. As in, 10 days before 9/11. Talk about a family being worried that the first born son (hell, any son) going into war after having the last person who went off into war never return home....
But Hyewoo said that he also had some good times in the military. He was on-duty during the World Cup in '02, and because he was still a young officer, he had the crappy job of figuring out wiether or not a giant cheer, roaring from Seoul was because of an attack or was it because the Korean soccer plays had scored on Italy for the first time in 46 years...?
He was just fabulous. I went up to him afterwards to shake his hand and talk to him because he was just one of those people you really feel honored to have listened to. He was funny, witty, smart, heart-felt, endearing, informative, and an all around cool person to have met.
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