74 years ago today, Korea was nationally liberated and no longer a colonized nation under the Empire of Japan. The end of the bloodiest war in the history of man has ended with the announcement of an unconditional surrender to Allied forces from the Japanese government. After 35 years of brutal oppression, the Korean people were finally free and began to move forward as a nation. Unfortunately, five years later the nation would spill more blood into a civil war between the North and South known as the 6.25 War or more commonly referred by the world as the Korean War.

While I am an American citizen, born and raised in Los Angeles. I am thankful for my ethnic and cultural heritage as a Korean. My family moved to the states during the late 1970s around the time when President Park Chung Hee was assasinated by his own bodyguard. My mom’s family lived in Gardena, went to Leuzinger High in Lawndale, and worked in Wienerschnitzel during her high school years. My dad’s family moved here around the same time in a rather interesting way. He worked in DTLA in the Fashion District until a fire that encouraged him to go to seminary. It wasn’t long until early 1990s when they met, dated, and married each other.

I love studying the history of Korea and Korean politics. This includes both Koreas which makes it even more fascinating at how different the two nations have evolved into over the past 70 years. In a few weeks, I’m working on travelling to the Republic of Korea for vacation and to see old friends. At the same time, I am going to see the hometown of both of my extended families. Stay tuned for a blog post regarding my trip in the near future. You can also follow my Instagram story here.

And so here is a quick reminder of a special day in my family as we celebrate National Libertation Day in Korea.