Op-Ed: The tragedy in Seoul should force South Korean society to consider the despair of the next generation
I met a young man in Seoul the other day. He was about 18. He asked me what I wanted from him. I told him this: “My job is to get people to do the right thing when they have the chance. It is to change things from the inside where others can not, and to make things look different.”
I told him that was a good thing to work for. I told him that my father and I, before I ran away, taught me that: “When it comes to the truth, don’t play games.” I told him that his father and I did not play games. I told him that I am proud of him because he made the right decision. He told me that was a good thing to do that. He told me that his father’s way was not really right, but his father was the only one who did not play games.
I told him, “Your way is not wrong. Your way is not wrong.” I told him that I am proud of him. It was the right thing to do.
He didn’t look like he was going to tell me to go away. It seemed like maybe he was going to ask me to go away. I asked him if I could read his eyes. He looked up. His eyes were big. Maybe they were too big. Maybe he was trying too hard. He looked down and I saw that he was crying. He said: “I just want to live in peace. I just want to live in peace.”
That was the most beautiful thing he said to me.
I asked him what he was doing with his life. That must mean something to him. He told me he was going to start a business that would sell computer parts and maybe put them together to make