This Chuseok holiday was exceptionally long, spanning both Gaecheonjeol and Hangeul Day. We rented a pension in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, and traveled with my younger sibling’s family to visit our hometown relatives. The next day, we spent time with my wife’s family at her sister’s house, enjoying a happy holiday. After that, just our family wrapped up the long break with a forest experience at Sosunam Recreation Forest in Danyang. While sharing meals and conversations with family, I gained insight into how each person navigates life in this era through the various life stories we shared. Even when slight differences of opinion or conflicting values arose, we understood and covered for each other simply because we are family. I, too, made an effort to carefully share thoughts I usually kept to myself during these conversations, or to offer advice in a way that wouldn’t make the other person uncomfortable. Fortunately, at my parents’ home, they also hold conservative political views based on Christian values, so the conversation flowed naturally, and we shared the same critical perspective on the current communist-leaning government.

Particularly regarding each family’s educational philosophy for their children, one must be extremely cautious, as it ultimately connects to one’s values in life.  So I listened with compassion to his worries and concerns about his younger brother’s children attending an international school run by a religious foundation known for its heretical sect. During a brief conversation with my nephew, I sensed he was getting along well with friends, brimming with enthusiasm for his studies, and satisfied with school life. When I mentioned an alumni senior who recently attended a startup conference, heard my panel talk, and sent me a LinkedIn connection request, he showed great interest. That senior had graduated middle school and was attending Next Challenge School, a high school specializing in entrepreneurship, where he was studying robotics. It seemed to inspire my nephew with the senior’s academic achievements and the sense of challenge in the fascinating field of robotics research. Meanwhile, with my younger brother and his wife, rather than pointing out heretical problems with school, I shared that I was contemplating sending my youngest son to a Christian international school next year, which resonated with them. Ultimately, as parents, what we wanted to give our children was a higher level of private education and the valuable alumni network of good peers and seniors, rather than the uniform public education system. Therefore, the Korea International Christian School (KICS) seemed like a good alternative. Moreover, when I explained that it had a campus in Umyeon-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, they showed interest.

However, at gatherings with my in-laws—devout Christians who nonetheless support a communist government and a president accused of crimes—there were occasional frictions in conversation. For instance, when I criticized the visa-free entry policy for foreigners, I was stunned to hear a deflective response blaming it on the previous administration. This is because the temporary three-day visa-free policy for foreign tourists arriving by cruise ship, implemented during President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration, had an almost zero domestic defection rate. In contrast, the visa-free policy for foreigners implemented starting September 30th coincided with a fire that knocked out most government systems, rendering the database for checking foreigners’ criminal records inoperable. This effectively amounted to opening the borders. This was easily discernible by comparing tourists who purchased expensive cruise packages to visit Korea with suspicious foreigners attempting to cross the border illegally. Moreover, recent kidnapping and abduction cases suspected of international organized crime were further unsettling the public. Yet, even in this situation, hearing that the President engaged in sociopathic behavior by appearing on an entertainment program, or that he had 50,000 malicious comments deleted from the broadcast, weighed heavily on my heart. I wanted to speak up about these facts, but my in-laws seemed to blame every problem on the former president, who was locked in solitary confinement and suffering human rights violations. They appeared to think like the common folk of old, who blamed the king for a lack of virtue even when it didn’t rain.

However, at gatherings with my in-laws—devout Christians who nonetheless support a communist government and a president accused of crimes—there were occasional frictions in conversation. For instance, when I criticized the visa-free entry policy for foreigners, I was stunned to hear a deflective response blaming it on the previous administration. This is because the temporary three-day visa-free policy for foreign tourists arriving by cruise ship, implemented during President Yoon Suk-yeol’s administration, had an almost zero domestic defection rate. In contrast, the visa-free policy for foreigners implemented starting September 30th coincided with a fire that knocked out most government systems, rendering the database for checking foreigners’ criminal records inoperable. This effectively amounted to opening the borders. This was easily discernible by comparing tourists who purchased expensive cruise packages to visit Korea with suspicious foreigners attempting to cross the border illegally. Moreover, recent kidnapping and abduction cases suspected of international organized crime were further unsettling the public. Yet, even in this situation, hearing that the President engaged in sociopathic behavior by appearing on an entertainment program, or that he had 50,000 malicious comments deleted from the broadcast, weighed heavily on my heart. I wanted to speak up about these facts, but my in-laws seemed to blame every problem on the former president, who was locked in solitary confinement and suffering human rights violations. They appeared to think like the common folk of old, who blamed the king for a lack of virtue even when it didn’t rain.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)