“All wars are fought twice, the first time on the battlefield, the second time in memory,” writes Pulitzer Prize-winning author Viet Thanh Nguyen.
The Korean War was “the most brutal war of the 20th century,” according to historian Samuel Moyn, with more than 4 million killed in three years, mostly Korean civilians. Although often referred to as “the Forgotten War,” the conflict continues more than 70 years after a fragile ceasefire was signed, keeping Korean families separated and driving the extreme militarization of the Korean Peninsula and the entire Asia-Pacific. Many Korean War survivors live with trauma, which is then inherited by their descendants, resulting in an ongoing cycle of violence, secrecy, and silence.
In 2024, Korea Peace Now! launched an online public educational series featuring activists, artists, and scholars to critically understand the impacts of intergenerational trauma stemming from the Korean War and other U.S. forever wars. Through dialogue, political education, and storytelling, we aim to empower our community to take action for peace, build bridges across generations, and forge a path toward realizing our collective security and liberation. Our speakers highlight how intergenerational healing informs their work and efforts to end the ongoing Korean War. We also discuss how the fate of the Korean War is inextricably intertwined with all movements seeking to end U.S. wars and militarism globally.
Series:
October 15, 2024 | Memoir, Trauma, and Healing for the Korean Diaspora, Grace M. Cho & Iris Yi Youn Kim
Our third gathering of the Intergenerational Healing and Learning Series featured author and professor Grace M. Cho and journalist and writer Iris Yi Youn Kim, where both shared presentations of their work and discussed how memoir can act as a vessel for unpacking and healing intergenerational trauma, especially for members of the Korean diaspora.
June 13, 2024 | KPNGN Reflections on Unbind Your Heart: Korean Han / Grief Transmutation Ceremony, One Year Later
For the second gathering, communications strategist Jungwon Kim and documentary filmmaker and cultural organizer Yoon Ra shared their reflections on “Unbind Your Heart: Korean Han / Grief Transmutation Ceremony” held on July 27, 2023, the 70th anniversary of the Korean War armistice, in Washington, DC. At “Unbind Your Heart,” participants transmuted collective, generational grief and rage (한 / Han) into a wellspring of righteous anger and strength to call for an end to the Korean War. The speakers discussed the process of blending grassroots community organizing with ritual, performance, and song in order to transform and counter state violence and warmaking. They also shared about their work and why we must prioritize community, ritual, and spiritual resistance in organizing and narrative-building practices.
May 30, 2024 | Intergenerational Trauma and the Korean War: Healing Across Generations, Helena Soholm & Joseph Han
The inaugural gathering featured award-winning author Joseph Han and psychologist and shaman Helena Choi Soholm, who shared their approaches to healing intergenerational trauma and grappling with their families’ histories, the legacies of U.S. imperialism, and the ongoing war in Korea.