Monday, November 29, 2010

DPRK Photo Journal

In light of the recent conflict in the Korean peninsula, Eclipse Rising wanted to share a a beautifully crafted photo journal by one of our members about our two members' trip to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in 2008 through the DPRK Exposure and Education Program. Below is an excerpt from the introduction page of the website.
Enjoy!

http://web.mac.com/flowergold/iWeb/flowergold%20lounge/Intro%20Page.html


"This opening intro page features fierce faces of many who stood in solidarity with the “comfort women” to demand Japanese accountability for its military sexual slavery. It is with the still-flowing tears, unredeemed, of the surviving halmonis (and memories of those who passed) in mind (with lots of other thoughts in mind, to be sure!) that I set out to the trip to the DPRK, the ‘other, virtually-forgotten (if not utterly demonized) half’ of the brutally divided dear motherland of my people, and beloved home for the halmonis. Somehow, I knew, their tears of painful yearning for redemption and genuine liberation didn’t seem entirely irrelevant to those I, too, and my fellow delegates on the trip, would come to shed during our 2-week stay, as we confront the forces of brutal war, violence, and colonization still pulling our people farther from the reach of justice and reconciliation long overdue... and also apart from each other.

Reunification is synonymous with reconciliation. One cannot come to realization without the other, if it were to deliver us all from the tears of our elders and our families today. To this end, the signing of the US-DPRK Peace Treaty is a first concrete step we can strive for. Not only is it simply long overdue, but it will provide us with more opportunities to participate in shaping the course of reunification of our motherland, to ensure it is achieved on the terms of the People of COREA. And that is a fundamental right of a sovereign nation. Countries of the world, beginning with the United States and Japan, have an obligation to respect and honor this today, tomorrow, and beyond. COREA IS FOR COREANS!"

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