창작과 비평

[On the Scene] Time to Talk about an Elephant: April 2018 Inter-Korean Summit Viewed from a Distance / Lee HyangKue

The Quarterly Changbi 180, Summer 2018

 

Abstract

Lee Hyangkue, a civil society activist, overwhelmed to hear the news of the unexpected inter-Korean summit from the UK, her current residence, sends the responses abroad and her own thoughts on the meeting. The sudden development of North and South Korea relations made her reminisce about her father, who died recently, and his heart-breaking life story: when he had to leave his own mother in North Korea in the late 1940s, he could not predict their eternal parting, nor the division of the nation. In her reflective style, she tries to convey the following: so many prayers for the peace on the peninsula from all over the world as well as from the residents of the peninsula have made the sudden, but touching summit possible, and we should not forget that those of the dead as well as the living are also included in the prayers.