Singapore summit close to home The devastation of a war isn’t just an abstraction
As the world watches the dramatic developments between the United States and North Korea unfolding, it is tempting to tune out the 24/7 news coverage of the upcoming TrumpKim summit in Singapore as nothing more than an abstraction. As a Korean American and longtime resident of San Francisco, I want to bring this issue closer to home.
Like many of the 1.7 million Korean Americans who live in the United States, I trace my heritage to Korea. Both of my parents were born in the northern part of Korea back when the country was one. My mother fled to South Korea during the Korean War, guided by my eldest uncle, who was in the South Korean army. My father left North Korea before the war and joined the South Korean army, leaving behind his parents and siblings.
He briefly saw his father in Pyongyang during the war when his army division advanced north after U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s amphibious landing in Incheon. My father thought the war would soon be over, and that he would reunite with his family. The Chinese intervention squashed that dream, dividing my father’s family forever.
To this day, Korean Americans like myself do not have any way of contacting our family members who still live in North Korea, due to the lack of diplomatic recognition between Washington and Pyongyang. As board chair of Council of Korean Americans, I have been proud of our educational and advocacy work over the years to raise awareness about this and other tragic humanitarian issues that linger as a result of U.S. and North Korea’s policy of nonengagement.
When I reflect on my parents’ unlikely journey from war-torn Korea to San Francisco, I am filled with emotions. I think about Koreans who are still struggling to cope with the human cost of war that tore families apart and took the lives in staggering proportion — 36,000 Americans, more than 200,000 South Koreans and 400,000 North Koreans, not to mention the casualties of 15 other countries that sent troops, the wounded, and POW/MIAs. Many Koreans’ lives are still affected by this bloody war that eviscerated their lands, their life savings and their human potential.
That is why loose talk of war with North Korea is so alarming, especially for those of Korean origin like me, for the 67,500 brave military men and women who are stationed in South Korea and Japan, and for the 200,000 Americans living in South Korea. And here in California, we have even more at stake beyond the human cost, which is terrifying enough. War with North Korea would also have an immediate effect on our economy.
In my congressional district, represented by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, we export $204 million worth of goods and services annually to South Korea, linked to more than 1,000 jobs. Korean visitors spend $87 million a year in our district. Nearly 10 percent of international students are from South Korea. At a national level, U.S.-South Korea’s economic ties run deep. We invest $35 billion a year in South Korea, and South Korean investment in the United States reached $24 billion in 2012. Should a war break out on the Korean Peninsula, the impact on trade, foreign direct investments and tourism across the Pacific would not only damage San Francisco’s economy but also harm the U.S. economy.
According to the Pentagon, the only way to remove all of North Korea’s nuclear weapons would be through a ground invasion. The last U.S. ground invasion to North Korea changed the course of my family’s life and the lives of millions of other Koreans forever. As Americans, we must be clear-eyed about what war with North Korea looks like and applaud those who are pursuing dialogue to resolve North Korea’s nuclear issue.
Like many Korean Americans, I still have relatives in both Koreas. For 1.7 million Korean Americans, North Korea is not an abstract idea or a distant problem. It is a problem that is here and now. We must do our part as citizens to speak up and ensure that our elected representatives know our stories, lest we repeat our history.