Over the course of nearly a decade I have heard from various pen-pals, friends, random people I meet, and of course news articles, about the horrors of war, the occupation of Korea, and comfort women who were 'still waiting for Japan to apologize to them' (and seen photos of survivors literally wailing in the streets refusing to rest until they get an apology).
After confronting a friend who knows far more about Japan then I do, I asked why - as Koreans have stated so many times - has Japan not said sorry?
My friend replied that they had done so and multiple times at that. Yet I was surprised. Why hadn't I heard about it then? Why were the Koreans so sure that Japan had not done so?
Purely by accident I found a list of the times Japan has apologized to various groups about previous wars.
Here is a brief list of each public apology that was aimed in some way at Korea:
22 June 1965 - Korea
24 August 1982 - Asia
26 August 1982 - Korea
6 September 1984 - Korean President (Chun Doo Hwan)
23 October 1985 - UN
1989 (exact date unknown) - Korea
18 April 1990 - Koreans
24 May 1990 - Korean President (Roh Tae-woo)
25 May 1990 - Korean President
1 January 1992 - Korean comfort women
16 January 1992 - Korean President
17 January 1992 - Korean + comfort women
6 July 1992 - comfort women
4 August 1993 - comfort women
31 August 1994 - comfort women
9 June 1995 - Asia
July 1995 - comfort women
15 August 1995 - Asia
23 June 1996 - Korean President (Kim Young Sam)+ comfort women
8 October 1996 - Korean President (Kim Dae Jung)
28 August 1997 - Asia
16 January 1998 - universal
15 July 1998 - comfort women
8 October 1998 - Korea
August 10, 2000 - Asia
August 17, 2000 - Asia
April 3, 2001 - Asia
September 8, 2001 - many countries
October 15, 2001 - Korean President
2001 (exact date unknown) - comfort women
September 17, 2002 - North Korea
August 15, 2003 - Asia
April 22, 2005 - universal
August 15, 2005 - Asia
March 26, 2007 - comfort women
You would think that 35 recorded apologies from over 4 decades, including multiple times directly to four Korean presidents, and even to North Korea would have, at some time, have actually been reported within Korea. Which to be fair it probably had been but the masses still don't believe it ever happened.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Homesick
I was looking through pictures of my friends' travels to the US; California and New York. As I was looking at the various pictures I started see things and places I haven't in several years. I saw resturaunts and drinks I haven't had access to in quite some time. And suddenly I felt myself starting to miss them.
It's not that I used those products often; maybe once every 4+ months. It was the fact that I no longer could get it if I wanted it. The choice was no longer mine to make.
I walked away and took a shower and for 20 minutes my mind went back and forth; from I miss ____(place, food, person, experience) to ...wait a second, I've been out of that country for how long? Two and a half years? Seriously, 2 1/2 years and I'm feeling homesick for...the first time? Maybe the second?
I think I've felt this way before while living here. Maybe around a year or so ago. So that's twice in 2 1/2 years.
But I felt that before; frequently in my hometown. I was with family, friends, a job that I still miss to this day, and access to all things in my home-culture. Yet I felt homesick there for here.
And now it's been about twenty minutes from when I started to feel homesick and now I just feel confused. I'm not homesick, I have found my place in the world, but I don't have access to the things I used to for most of my life. And then the best thing happened. Talking about this outloud, my friend responded with "most of your life so far."
Just because I have lived most of my life in country A doesn't mean I have to be tethered to it. I have the chance to continue to live in country B. To continue to make my life here.
To quote the movie "Traitor" "what language do you dream in?" I don't really dream in other languages but I find myself more and more thinking in the language of country B.
I will continue to ponder my identity as I am not fully country A and not fully country B; and I never will be. I've talked to and read from people who have done this 20 years+ and then they came to that conclusion. I find peace that I know that now.
It's not that I used those products often; maybe once every 4+ months. It was the fact that I no longer could get it if I wanted it. The choice was no longer mine to make.
I walked away and took a shower and for 20 minutes my mind went back and forth; from I miss ____(place, food, person, experience) to ...wait a second, I've been out of that country for how long? Two and a half years? Seriously, 2 1/2 years and I'm feeling homesick for...the first time? Maybe the second?
I think I've felt this way before while living here. Maybe around a year or so ago. So that's twice in 2 1/2 years.
But I felt that before; frequently in my hometown. I was with family, friends, a job that I still miss to this day, and access to all things in my home-culture. Yet I felt homesick there for here.
And now it's been about twenty minutes from when I started to feel homesick and now I just feel confused. I'm not homesick, I have found my place in the world, but I don't have access to the things I used to for most of my life. And then the best thing happened. Talking about this outloud, my friend responded with "most of your life so far."
Just because I have lived most of my life in country A doesn't mean I have to be tethered to it. I have the chance to continue to live in country B. To continue to make my life here.
To quote the movie "Traitor" "what language do you dream in?" I don't really dream in other languages but I find myself more and more thinking in the language of country B.
I will continue to ponder my identity as I am not fully country A and not fully country B; and I never will be. I've talked to and read from people who have done this 20 years+ and then they came to that conclusion. I find peace that I know that now.
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