Honorable Mention TOKYO-2017 Editorial / Conflict

Remember 0625

  • Photographer
    Robert Park

In 2016, I visited the Korean War excavation site. I was a student volunteer as a photographer. The picture on the left is Choi Hong Yi. Choi's father died during the Korean War and buried inside the land. He had kept silent for all these years out of fear that people would label him a communist like his father and discriminate against him. Choi told me, "I am a bastard. I do not know my father. And though I knew about his remains, I did not uncover them for the last 60 years in order to hide the fact that I am the son of a North Korean communist.” It was heart breaking to hear Mr. Choi statement. It shows the ugly side of war and more importantly, the tragedy of two divided nations who come from same race.