A Long Winter

This month has gone by very, very slowly. Every day checking the news, social media, calling my family to check that they're safe.

The Jeju night sky

Last winter, friends from all over the world checked in on me in the midst of the South Korean political turmoil. It was a difficult, dark season. But spring brought good news and was cemented by the June presidential election. I finished my first YAV year full of hope and pride in the Korean people.

This year, my internship began with attending demonstrations in Gyeongju during the APEC meetings, where many South Koreans spoke out against Trump's unfair foreign trade policies and demanded a better deal for South Korea. This was happening at a time when the relative value of the Korean won was continuing to drop and the threat of higher tariffs loomed large. To many South Koreans' chagrin, President Lee Jae-Myeong gifted President Trump a crown during the conference along with the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, the highest national medal. However, I appreciate this analysis of the gift-giving gesture. Unfortunately, even after receiving a crown, earlier this week on Monday, January 26, Trump announced his intention to raise the tariffs on South Korean imports from 15% to 25%.

APEC 2025 Gyeongju

Fast forward to January, and I'm sitting in a restaurant eating dinner with a friend. The news is playing on TV, and suddenly, I see the image of the 5-year-old boy from my neighborhood who was detained by ICE. The headline is in Korean and the reporter is speaking Korean, but it's my neighbor who is on the screen. And I am sitting there watching this horror from the other side of the world.

It's surreal.

I see on Instagram the video of Alex Pretti being murdered right in front of a beloved donut shop in my city. I love getting the curry tofu banh mi from the restaurant across the street. I frequent the thrift shop next door with their queer-friendly vibes, local artist pop-ups, and impeccably curated pieces. I've taken visitors and friends to the art museum just a couple blocks away more times than I can count.

It's surreal.

I know I'm supposed to be present, but it's difficult.

Because my heart is in Minneapolis.

So this year, in reverse, my Korean friends are checking in on me because of the news they've seen about Minnesota. I am grateful for their care and prayers.

People ask me when I plan to return to the US. I tell them that this program ends in the summer and I plan to return at that time. But a part of me worries that it won't be safe to go home. In the hopes that I am able to return, I realize that I only have six months left here, so I'd better enjoy Korea as much as I can! Since I arrived in August 2024, I haven't done a ton of tourist-y things, but I realize now is the time, if ever. So you'll see me visiting lots of museums, going hiking, and trying to learn as much Korean as I can before I go home.

Finally visiting Gyeongbokgung! Last time here was over 8 years ago.

This month, us YAVs visited Jeju to learn about the April 3 Incident and the history of US and South Korean militarization on the island. At the same time, I have also been watching When Life Gives You Tangerines and reading Pachinko. Before going, we also read The Island of Sea Women, a fictional story about a haenyeo who lives through the April 3 Incident. Koreans lived through unspeakable violence, abduction, murder, and poverty. As we heard the stories of the Jeju people and places, I just kept thinking about the situation in the US and how that same state-sponsored terrorism is hitting us now. It has been difficult to get out of bed some days, but I know I must continue living my life here and be faithful wherever I am and to whomever I am with. I think often of the Jeju phrase

"살면 살아진다"

"If you live, you will go on living"

And so I will. And so we must. As Gandhi said, we must be the change we wish to see in the world. So we shall, and so we are.

The camellia flower blooms in the wintertime. It has become a symbol of the Jeju people's suffering during the April 3 Incident as well as their resilience.

Please pray for my people, my neighbors, my family, my village—please pray for peace, safety, and justice. Please pray that I can return home to a city where I do not have to worry about dying in front of my favorite donut shop, where neighbors are not kidnapped, and children are not terrorized. I'm so proud of my fellow Minnesotans for standing up to this madness, violence, and evil. Please stand with us on the side of humanity and not on the side of evil masquerading as law enforcement.

Lord, in your mercy