Because of this one man, who visited parts of the world and raised the voice of peace with tireless efforts
and thirst for peace against misunderstanding and persecution, peace is blossoming in Korea,
the symbol of conflict of the globe. Starting with one man, this path of peace is supported
by the global citizens.
His Name is Man Hee Lee!
If you’re going to Korea, hopefully you can visit the site of peace, not the one of conflict.
The Name is 'HWPL'
[The Joint Security Area (JSA) between the two Koreas]
There is a person who survived from this tragic war. Without any compensations, he has walked the path in order not
to make a world where youth and women suffer from wars, though it has never been appreciated by anyone.
That is the path of peace. Because of this one man, who visited parts of the world and raised the voice of peace
with tireless efforts and thirst for peace against misunderstanding and persecution, peace is blossoming in Korea,
the symbol of conflict of the globe. Starting with one man, this path of peace is supported by the global citizens.
The picture of the man with thousands of people in front of the Gate of Peace in Seoul proves it.
The Adventures of Sinbad in a Korean amusement park (When you sail along the waterway, you can see some tough pirates) or the Autopia in Hongkong Disneyland (car-shaped roller coaster?) may have been a exhilarating one with tension and thrill back in childhood.
For those who grow enough to feel nothing special in an amusement park anymore, the very place to offer “unexpectedly” a kind of adventure in reality is Panmunjom, the de-militarized zone between the two Koreas. Making you feel much tension and thrill caused by not firing guns but targeting each other for over 60 years, it has become a must for visitors to Korea. Such famous people of the world as President Obama and Mrs. Clinton visited there. You can “safely” enjoy this de-militarized zone.
Nevertheless, the confrontation of ideologies brought about cutting the Korean peninsula, a strategic point of East Asia for the superpowers, in half. Families were torn apart and never new whether they lived or died. Subsequently, the Korean war, forced the whole globe to spill blood. Brothers, sisters, friends, neighbors in village - one’s everything in life- disappeared.
According to a civilian who survived from the war, the army shot two or three times to make sure that the dead bodies were really dead. There were no human rights in front of war.4 million deaths in this war created tears (Koreans use the expression “blood tears”), missing families who cannot meet, waiting for a day to meet each other again in their whole lives and coming to die; without repentance from making this tragedy, world history textbooks describe the Korean War as following,
“A political belief had been fought for – the halting of communist expansion in south-east Asia – but the superpowers had avoided any direct conflict -a classic occurrence in the Cold War.”
Determined by others, not Koreans themselves the ramifications of this division after the war to Korean people are still great. With few exceptions, all male citizens in Korea are responsible for having military service. In their 20s, golden days of youth, must spend their lives in the army for 2 years (in the past it was over 3 years.) Salary? It’s around 100 American dollars per month. Place to stay? More than 10 soldiers should stay in the same room. Personal life does not exist. Food?
There is a horrifying joke in Korea. “When mad cow disease, there is beef. When foot-and-mouth disease, there is pork. When avian flu, there is chicken on the table.” We don’t know the truth, but some soldiers do think they eat such food. Can parents in Europe and North America, who take their kids to school with car everyday, accept the letter of conscription if this kind of treatment can happen in their countries? With “the original sin” of having a son, Korean mothers have to send their kids to the training camp with tears in their eyes. Korean sons have to release the hold on their mothers’ hands.
The youth in Korea, who used to hold pens, violins, and brushes, are required to hold mass of cold iron, weapons to kill and harm human beings. The country wants to hide the fact, but sometimes soldiers can die from firearm accidents. In Korea, the military service is a sociocultural phenomenon.
Like this, Koreans live in the aftereffects of the Korean War. For this more thrilling stimulus from the reality (than the virtual one in a disneyland), people around the world pay for their tourism to Korea. Korea has become an interesting amusement park where people take a close look at fantastic things without much attention to how they came to exist. In particular, the animals that were trapped and taken to the park live a life in a limited space are deprived of their freedom and receive attention from visitors for the interest of others. Losing their family and home, locked in a limit, used as a place to attract people for someone’s money in exchange of history of tears of millions, the JSA in Korea becomes the disneyland in reality, stimulating a fantasy of the unknown world.
One Man is Chairman Man Hee Lee of HWPL.
He is the very man, Man Hee Lee peace advocate!
Dear family of the global community,
If you’re going to Korea, hopefully you can visit the site of peace, not the one of conflict.
The name is HWPL!!
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