Almost every Saturday for the last twenty weeks or so, my friends and I took a stroll down to Gwanghwamun Plaza in downtown Seoul to join the protesters. We were young, awkward, and clueless. It didn’t take us long to realize that it was the first time, too, for a lot of the others—parents with babies in strollers, kids in school uniforms, students in university varsity jackets—all of them cheerful and most holding candles. It was oddly comforting.
I am from South Korea, but I make it a point not to write or speak in Korean about this country. That my Korean language skills have ossified from disuse is only one reason; it is more that my brushes with South Korean media are rarely uplifting. A case in
Foreign residents banned from participating in nationwide rallies The weekly demonstrations have drawn enthusiastic crowds, but a reminder to foreign residents of South Korea: It’s illegal for them to participate. Immigration law bans non-citizens from any form of political activity. However, there’s a low chance of any negative
