Korea's Broken Heart

While I was teaching them proper English, these elementary-aged children showed me the world as seen by South Koreans. When North Korea conducted those missile tests and later demonstrated their nuclear capability, the perception among South Koreans soon became crystal clear: That despite the Korean War, despite the fact that the North is controlled by a Communist dictator, most Koreans are still hopeful of some sort of unification of the peninsula under the Democratic government of South Korea.

The best example of this came from one of my younger students who was only in the second grade. She couldn't find the words in English to tell me what she thought of North Korea, so she walked up to the chalkboard and drew a picture of a broken, cracked heart. She described to me that one side represented South Korea, the other side North Korea, and made hand motions to show sadness of this broken heart.

Then she drew a whole heart, and expressed that this was the hope of South Koreans for the future: The hope to one day have a united Korea.

Although this might sound like a far-fetched idea, from the Western point of view, we also must remember that it was not too long ago when there was a Berlin Wall. It wasn't too long ago when the United States were divided into the Confederate States, whom did not want to re-join the Union. The collective hope for a united country is more than natural for a people that not only share a language, but family, friends and history.

Reunification is a key word in Korean politics, a hope in the hearts of all South Koreans. I say: Let us never forget where we came from and support this hope with all we can.