When I first heard about Euna Lee and Laura Ling, my response was - "So what?" Not because I did not care about them but because, for me, North Korea abducting innocent people is a tired issue that my country, Japan, has had to deal for the past few decades.
Before I left Japan to attend university in the US, the two major issues Japan was facing was their inability to keep one prime minister and more importantly – Japan’s relationship with North Korea as North Korea finally began admitting to abducting Japanese people in the 70s and 80s.
By now, it is a well known story in Japan – some time 30 or 40 years ago, a young individual or couple is strolling on the beach on a late afternoon. That night, they don’t return home and are never heard from again. 40 years later, i.e. now, after much investigation by the missing’s families, journalists, and the Japanese government, North Korea is finally starting to admit that the disappearances of the Japanese people 30 to 40 years ago were because they – North Korea – had abducted them. During their time in North Korea, the Japanese abductees tried their best to make a life for themselves, taking on Korean names and marrying fellow abductees from Japan and South Korea. Yet their home always remained in Japan.
When they first admitted it, the North Korean government refused to allow the thirteen admitted (as in, there are more) abductees to visit with their families. The families of the abductees refused to go to North Korea for fear of meeting the same fate as their loved one. After intense negotiations by both governments, North Korea agreed to allow the abductees to return to their homeland, ONLY if Japan agreed to "return" the abductees to North Korea afterwards. Excuse me?
When the American people found out about Euna and Laura, I wanted to scream "Hello! This is nothing new! Japan has been fighting this issue for the last half century! We can’t begin to fathom how many Japanese and South Korean people are trapped North Korean because this has been going on for so long. America, where have you been? You were fighting an invisible Iraq, we are fighting a tangible Kim Jong Il. Get real!"
But then I caught myself and thought – why am I sitting here, stupidly naive and angry at the US government when this is the perfect opportunity to spread the word about Japan and its abductees in North Korea?
When I hear about Euna Lee and Lauren Ling, I think about Megumi Yokota of Japan who was abducted at the age of 13 to North Korea and was finally permitted to return home only to find that relatives had passed away waiting for her return.
So this is my plea to you for Euna and Laura - When you sign the petition, you are not signing a petition only for the two American women, but you are signing a petition that speaks internationally, to help the many Japanese and South Korean men and women abducted in the last half century. This is a cause that started outside of American borders and one that will remain so.
No, I do not lack sympathy for Euna and Laura. The US has the power to make a change, so let’s make it happen.
Sign the free petition for Euna Lee and Laura Ling.
Learn more about Japanese abductees in North Korea.
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thanks for these unknown facts.
Wish you love, peace and happiness.
Trisha
Why I lacked sympathy for Cassaundra Vergel:
When I first heard about Japanese citizens being abducted by North Korea my initial response was "So what?"
Last year North Korean soldiers shot and killed a 53 year old South Korean housewife, Park Wang-ja, who was simply taking a walk on the beach near the Mount Gumgang resort. Here's what her husband said in an interview with a South Korean newspaper:
Dear Cassaundra,
You noticed that it was your pain and anger that had numbed your expression of sympathy for Laura and Euna. You say that the US has the power to make a change… I believe the power to make the change is in us all.
If we want the world to change, then we need to resolve the pain and anger we hold on to, the one that stops us from feeling sympathy for more people. Can you imagine having sympathy for ALL people? Can you imagine, if only theoretically, having sympathy even for those who hurt so badly that they have lost all capacity for sympathy? For those who have hurt you badly? Sympathy for… North Korea?Would that be a truly changed world?
What hurts in us all, what numbes us to love and what upholds endless conflicts is not someone else, person or nation, but our own anger and hate, coming from our deepest wounds. Look around and you will see a wounded world. Look honestly and you will see even your worst enemy hurting with the exact same pain. Truly see your enemy's pain and you won't be able to avoid sympathy. Compassion.
I don't think we should wait for the US to make the change. Nobody else can change the world, only we ourselves can. To do that, every one of us needs to understand that the wounds are in ourselves, and strive to heal them instead of seeking revenge ad infinitum. We don't call it revenge of course, we call it justice… but justice is a relative thing when the stories and pain of all sides are heard.
We need to heal ourselves and strive to understand and forgive those we still haven't forgiven. Only if we do that will the world become more kind and safe, only if we find healing, forgiveness and love in ourselves can we find the way to peace.
Please Cassaundra, if you can, do look deeper. For your own healing and happiness, and for everyone else's.
with best wishes and love, aurora
I'm very glad to see Euna and Laura are released.
I'm Japanese and I know how terrible all issues about abductees from Japan and South Korea are, including absolute tragedy about Megumi and so on.
This fact does not make me feeling like "so what" kind of bitter resentment to2 journalists.
I look at Euna and Laura's case as the indication that US government has the power to protect its citizens. In the meantime, Japanese government does not have this power due to many complicated political reasons.
Cassaundra, I don't think your way of appealing to US public for petition is the good one, honestly speaking.
Misplaced anger and resentment would not move peoples' mind in a good way.
Clear statement of injustice and seek for sympathy for human suffering do.