Editorial introduction
The latest Constituent Notes podcast is a travelogue from a January 2024 DePauw University delegation to the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (or Chongryon), part of an official exchange program between DePauw and Korea University in Tokyo. First established in 2019, it is the only U.S. university class on Koreans in Japan and, so far, the only exchange program between Korea University and a U.S. educational instutition.
Howley, who led the delegation along with his colleagues and comrades Derek Ford and Kiyul Chung, hosted and produced the podcast. The transcript is available at his website and below the video. Images from the 2024 and previous delegations have been added with his permission, and were taken by Choson Sinbo, Konrad Rula, Alan Mateo, Kevin Howley, Derek Ford, Sarah Pfohl, and Curry Malott.
To better grasp the significance of the Constituent Notes podcast episode, read about the history of the struggle of Koreans in Japan and read about recent escalating attacks on their schools.
Koreans in Japan: An audio travelogue
Transcript
Kevin Howley: In January 2024, a delegation from DePauw University traveled to Tokyo, Japan, to meet with Korean students and educators. Organized by Professor Derek Ford, the trip offered American students a rare opportunity to learn about the historical struggle of Koreans in Japan. Part of the broader educational mission of this singular cultural exchange program, this broadcast presents insights and observations from DePauw students and their Korean hosts.
I’m Kevin Howley, and this is “Koreans in Japan: An Audio Travelogue.” Our host in Tokyo: Professor Kiyul Chung.
Kiyul Chung: As Kevin said, I deeply appreciate Derek’s pioneering work to create a class unprecedented in [the] United States, the Koreans in Japan, as an official class of 100 years old, wonderful university, private university, DePauw University.
Howley: Project organizer Derek Ford.
Derek Ford: I was first invited to visit the Koreans in Japan, and specifically, Korea University, in 2016. And I was amazed that I had no idea that it existed. I had no idea about the Koreans in Japan and their struggle.
I knew about Korea, and I knew about the Korean struggle, but not this community. And I was so shocked that I didn’t know that. And so I was immediately thinking, how many other people will be shocked and disappointed?
Ellie Mikolajczak: I don’t know how to put into words this overwhelming feeling that I have.
Howley: Ellie Mikolajczak, DePauw University, Class of 2025.
Mikolajczak: And overwhelming things that I have for everybody in this room, especially Derek Ford, telling us all about it, especially at DePauw, because nobody knows about this history.
And it should be talked about every single day. It should be in our history books. It should be in every single history book.
It shouldn’t be a hidden war. It shouldn’t be a forgotten war. And for Americans, it’s very ignorant of us to just forget about this war or not know about it.
Howley: Alan Mateo, Class of 2026.
Alan Mateo: Going to Japan has always been a dream of mine since I was a child, yet I didn’t expect this trip to be so enlightening. Before going, we had a few classes where Professor Ford explained the complicated relationship between Koreans, Americans, and the Japanese.
As expected, my education here in the U.S. failed to teach me anything, and this new information made me eager to learn more.
Howley: Students at Korea University provided a historical overview of their institution and their struggle.
Korea University Student 1: In 1945, the federal Koreans in Japan, Chongryon, started to set up a national language institute in order to teach their children their own language, history, and culture. Korea University was founded in 1956 and started with 16 students and 10 teachers. In 1959, our university stood here with the money sent from the DPRK as educational funds. Korea University is the highest educational institution for Koreans in Japan.
It has eight properties, including one junior college, with about 600 students. Graduates from Korea University work in various fields, such as a teacher of Korean schools, entrepreneur, professional sports player, and so on.
Howley: Korean students also addressed decades of social, political, and legal discrimination.
Korea University Student 2: Korean school children have been consistently discriminated by the Japanese government, and they have been deprived of their right to education. The exclusion of Korean high school students from tuition-free programs. The Japanese government enforced tuition-free programs in 2010.
This program covered not only students of Japanese public and private schools, but also students from foreign schools, such as Brazilian, Chinese, German, French, and Korean schools. However, only Korean school students were excluded from the program. Why have we Korean students been excluded from several programs? The Japanese authorities have a close relationship not only to Changnyeong, but also to North Korea.
They also call us dangerous spies of North Korea. Are we dangerous spies? No, definitely not. [LAUGHTER] Korean schools are the place to foster our ethnic identity.
We study hard to achieve our dreams. My dream is to be a teacher. I have been able to live strong thanks to my ethnic education in Uri hakkyo (Our school).
Now, I want to be the person to protect and develop Uri hakkyo. In order to achieve our dreams, we will continue to fight. Thank you for listening.
Howley: Korean resistance to systemic racism resonated with several students. Alberto Zamora, Class of 2026.
Alberto Zamora: What I really wanted to understand more was the oppression that goes on for Koreans in Japan.
After being here, I’ve learned a lot in understanding the struggle. I’ve been able to see how the struggle could be similar for people of color and immigrants and also international students back at home. So, my education experience has been good, right? But you still have to go through a lot of struggles trying to find aid to go into college.
Some of my friends are struggling in college right now and don’t know me. Are you motivated to continue? But that’s why, going back to that idea of we’re part of the revolution, you guys are part of the revolution of being here and understanding that you guys have dreams. We all have dreams that we want to accomplish.
Howley: Upon returning to campus, Mallory Mundy, Class of 2024, reflected on her visit with Koreans in Japan.
Mallory Mundy: Participating in this experience gave me the opportunity to see firsthand the discrimination taking place against North Korean communities from the Japanese government. Before going to Tokyo, my understanding of the North Korean situation was non-existent.
Going into this experience with an open mind and truly appreciating every single moment was the best decision I could have made. Being that Japan is nearly the farthest place from home for a DePauw student, it made every single aspect of this trip educational. By engaging with Korean students K-12 and then at the university, I began to see an overload of kindness and intelligence that I was not previously familiar with.
I will be forever grateful that Korean schools, students, faculty allowed my classmates and myself into their space to truly understand their hardships. Every single person I met throughout my time in Japan has made me a better human being. Most importantly, I’ve learned how optimism is the most radiating form of change.
Howley: Optimism emerged as a central theme in student reflections on their visit with Koreans in Japan. This is Hai Nguyen and Wednesday Jin, Class of 2026, followed by Olivia Lockette, Class of 2024.
Hai Nguyen: We’ve discussed a lot about how optimism is a key thing with the Korean students and the Korean community in Japan in general because this is not just a student thing. This is also how all the adults all believe in a better future for the Korean students here and for the future generations to come.
Wednesday Jin: This one-week-long program enabled me to know some of the struggles that the Korean community suffers and how they actively resist that oppression. What astonished me the most was the optimism they had in their spirit.
All the students we met had a smile on their face. This kind of smile is hard to find in the capitalist society that we live in today. Despite the extreme oppression they encounter, they choose to resist in many ways.
For example, how both the school and students highly value the education of Korean culture, language, and tradition opens up a crack in the system so that students can breathe freely.
Olivia Lockette: Hope is a funny thing because in many ways it’s everywhere.
People come up with antidotes to get through difficult times, like “everything happens for a reason” or “everything will end up okay.”
And they’re nice sentiments, but they’re also sort of bullshit and rarely stand firm in the face of true struggling, abuse, and wartime. In being at KU and learning about the unknown Korean struggle, I have learned a lot about hope and optimism and how people are stronger when community is utilized.
Howley: For Katrina Stanger, Class of 2024, the optimism of Koreans in Japan is contagious.
Katrina Stanger: There is a lot of hate in the world right now. Every day there are new headlines of terrible crimes, wars, and discrimination that make it hard to be an American and hard to be a person. My friend Olivia and I were having a conversation before this trip about what is happening in Gaza between Israel and Palestine, and we both agreed that it is hard to want to live in a world that allows such horrible things to happen.
We felt hopeless and helpless, but then we came on this trip. We saw the way that the Korean community in Japan faced so much hate and discrimination and have had decades of pain and suffering but continue to have smiles on their faces. They continue to welcome strangers into their community with open arms, laugh with us, give us hugs, and encourage us to remain optimistic.
I think that has been the defining theme of this experience, optimism. That is something that Liv and I didn’t have, even just as bystanders of the tragedies happening all around the world. But I have learned from all of the Korean students, and especially Professor Chung, that change will not happen without optimism.
[MUSIC] Change cannot happen if we all give up and sulk about the pain in the world. Change happens when you believe that it can. This trip has made me believe that change is possible, and I want to be a part of it when it does.
Korea University means so much to me, and I will never forget the experiences I have had here.
Band: Welcome to Korea University! Happy birthday Alan!
Ford: This is not a revolutionary course, and there’s no real political motive or incentive, right? I mean, my purpose in it is not to convert anybody or to win them over to any particular ideology. And in fact, I’ve had students of all political backgrounds on it, and I cherish that because they all come away with it, with the understanding that there’s some shared humanity, that we can recognize, and that is the seed for peace.
And we might differ on how to get there and what that looks like, but nonetheless, it’s there. And once you go and you speak and you spend time, genuine time, you know, not as a tourist, but as a friend.
Howley: On that note, we’ll give Kaija Carr, Class of 2025, the final word on this remarkable course and its significance … for everyone involved.
Kaija Carr: Professor Ford has been a mentor to me for the past two, three years, essentially. And sometimes it’s always hard to trust what he has to say. [LAUGHTER] But I’ve always learned a lot from him and his classes, and the opportunities that he has provided me as a scholar.
And this trip, I knew it was going to be special, but I didn’t know how special it was going to be. I was looking forward to it, and I knew there were going to be a lot of opportunities to connect and to learn about the history, but also to make genuine friendships. And that has exceeded all of my expectations, above and beyond.
Sometimes, I can’t, I don’t even think I can put into words how this opportunity has made me feel, what I’ve learned, the community that you guys have as students, but also, like, you aren’t individual people, you’re one, like, whole. You’re a very, it’s a very communal group, and I wish that that was more like it was in the U.S., and the education system we have there. But I think one of the most amazing things that I’ve learned is just how you guys are so, like, you have so much pride for your schools, or “our schools,” as you guys call it.
And I think that is something I wish, I want to bring back to the U.S., and I want to try to share that message as well, because it deserves to be, like, shared. And also, just being able to get your story out there, not knowing anything about Korea University or Koreans in Japan beforehand, I would, like, I think, us as a collective, as DePauw University, I think we will try, like, do our best to make sure that we are able to share your story, share your experiences. So, yeah. Thank you for having me. Thank you.
[MUSIC]
Featured photo: Artwork produced by students at the First Tokyo Elementary/Middle School by Korean students in Japan. Credit: Kevin Howley.
