We were excited to go to Korea, ever since we have been obsessively watching Vice Episodes and their obsession with Korea. Now if you don’t know what Vice is, then stop reading this blog now and go to the Vice channel—watch every episode they ever made, and then come back.
Protesting
Since we couldn’t go to North Korea, we settled on the next best thing—going to South Korea and protesting North Korea. We crashed a few protests: they seemed to be about jobs, or maybe the environment, but I was yelling about North Korea.
In Seoul, they have a great system of dealing with protest. They create a giant ear with a microphone in it, allowing you to scream into it and complain. There are officials at the other end that are diligently taking notes and working on your feedback, so I walked over and gave them a takeout order. Surprisingly enough they have no idea what Kung Pao Chicken is or know who General Tsao is. I definitely feel a greater Asian culture influence in America than I do in Asia.
The DMZ
North and South Korea are separated by what is called the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone).
There is a tunnel and bridge connecting them, a subway station, and an express train, but they may as well be on different planets.
Koreans yearn for the reunification and look out at North Korea with such optimism and hope that it almost feels like they are disillusioned by the whole situation and are in serious denial.
We went all the way to the zone, where even Koreans are not allowed to go. We felt so bad for them and touched at the same time. It’s like that friend you have that was in that relationship, got dumped and ignored, but your friend hopelessly holds on to this false hope that “maybe he/she still like me” or “it’s not over” or “he/she really is a good person underneath”.
All you want to do is grab your friend, slap him in the face, and say “Wake up! It’s over! She doesn’t care about you! Move on with your life!
But instead, you remain supportive and continue to be a good friend and you allow, endure and listen to the what-if’s, the theories, the analyzing, and the painful soul searching , secretly wishing they just let it go.
That’s exactly how you feel when going to the DMZ—you feel like grabbing the Koreans and saying, “Hey! Kim Jong-il is an asshole, his son is an asshole, his grandfather is an asshole, and he will kill anyone in his way. North Korea will always be separate and you have to let it go and move on. North and South Korea will never be whole and one , Ever!
However, the fundamental difference between the Koreans and my example is: North and South Korea are family, and you don’t give up on family or move on from family, and you can’t replace family.
To be continued in Part 2.